LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - In a closely watched case, the highest court of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) refused to rule Tuesday on whether a homosexual man is eligible to serve as a church elder.
The court said the dispute surrounding Wayne Osborne had become moot because the First Presbyterian Church of Stamford, Conn., had installed another group of elders.
Osborne could not be located for comment following the ruling by the Permanent Judicial Commission of the denomination's General Assembly.
Osborne was ordained an elder and served one term on the Stamford church's governing board before he publicly disclosed he was gay. When he acknowledged his homosexuality, his installation for another term was put on hold after two fellow church members complained.
Osborne won rulings in lower church courts, but the case was appealed until reaching the denomination's highest court.
The denomination's chief policy-making body has recommended lifting the ban on homosexuals from serving in church office. The measure must be ratified by a majority of the church's 173 presbyteries.
Until then, ministers, deacons and elders of the nation's sixth-largest Protestant denomination are required to ``live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.''
The Rev. Blair Moffett, co-pastor at the Stamford church, said the congregation would be relieved the dispute involving Osborne was over.
``There was some tension at the outset, but for the most part we've had other things to do,'' he said.
On the Net: http://www.pcusa.org