Following the 373 to 323 vote on Thursday, General Assembly moderator Cynthia Bolbach said in a press conference that the action they took "is just part of an ongoing conversation Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been having for the past 15 years" or so.
Bolbach, who supports the "full inclusion" of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) persons, drew parallels between the debate on homosexual ordination and the debate from 70 years ago on women leaders.
She noted that society has now moved on to pretty much full inclusiveness while the church continues to try to decide how it feels about the role of gays and lesbians in ordained leadership.
"The standards that the governing bodies will be held to is to evaluate the totality of a candidate's life, to interview them and see what their gifts are, what their talents are, what their whole life is about rather than one aspect of their life and ... all of this to be done under the Lordship of Jesus Christ," she contended. "I think that is an incredibly high standard."
