
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 9, 1993                   TAG: 9306090107
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A6   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ORLANDO, FLA.                                LENGTH: Short

PRESBYTERIAN GROUP TO STUDY HOMOSEXUALITY

The Presbyterian General Assembly approved a three-year study of homosexuality and the church, creating an uneasy peace within the 2.8 million-member denomination while a ban on gay clergy stands.

Moments after commissioners to the 205th General Assembly voted 396-155 on Monday for the churchwide study, about 70 gay rights activists marched around the convention hall carrying a wooden cross and shouting "The Church is ours, you can't shut us out."

Proposals to open Boy Scout troops in Presbyterian churches to homosexuals and to urge President Clinton to allow gays in the military are still before the church's annual meeting, which ends today.

Lin Team, moderator of the Human Sexuality Committee that proposed the churchwide study, said Tuesday that approving it "at least acknowledges the fact that there is not consensus in the church, and it tries to facilitate mutual respect and forbearance."

In its vote, the assembly asked all churches and regional presbyteries to examine issues of sexuality related to membership, ministry and ordination in the church.

But while the resolution recognized "the pain of our homosexual brothers and sisters," it also affirmed as "authoritative" current church policy prohibiting homosexual clergy.

by CNB