Presbyterian Church Revolts After New Proposal Requires ‘Monogamy’ For PCUSA Clergy

Several committees within the Presbyterian Church (USA) are up in arms and speaking up after a proposal at their upcoming General Assembly this summer would mandate that their clergy have to be monogamous and sexually faithful to only one person.

The PCUSA church has been apostate for decades, and the new rule-CON 10- doesn’t target LGBTQ relationships, which have openly celebrated for just about as long. Instead, it targets clergy living in polygamous or polyamorous relationships, which is a growing problem in the progressive denomination.

The rule, submitted by the Sierra Blanca Presbytery, states that PC(USA) pastors must “display moral character” and, “if engaged in any relationship of a sexual nature, living in a monogamous one.”

Furthermore, the proposal asks the denomination to develop pastoral resources to help people leaving “polyamorous or polygamous situations.”

The proposal was written by Presbyterians for the Kingdom, the non-profit from @redeemed_zoomer.

This has not gone down well with several official PCUSA advisory committees, including the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, the Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice, and the Advocacy Committee on LGBTQIA+ Equity, who have now spoken out against it.

The latter notes that this proposal doesn’t reflect God’s diversity and is the result of white privilege.

This overture also imposes a narrow, culturally specific understanding of family and relationship structure that does not reflect the diversity of God’s people. Across many cultures represented within the PC(USA), family and relational structures take forms that this overture’s language would penalize or attempt to erase.

To codify one cultural norm as the singular standard for ordained ministry is not a neutral theological act. It reflects the same pattern of privileging a dominant cultural framework over the lived realities of communities of color and global Christians that the Church has been working to dismantle.”

The Advocacy Committee on Women and Gender Justice likewise notes that the insistence that clergy be monogamous is a terrible idea, writing in their dissent:

The Advocacy Committee on Women and Gender Justice cannot support this recommendation because it extends beyond the Church’s call to form disciples into an attempt to regulate the private lives and relational structures of individuals in ways that risk harm rather than healing. As a Reformed body, the PC(USA) has long affirmed that “God alone is Lord of the conscience” (Book of Order, F-3.0101), and that the role of the Church is not to impose uniformity of personal life but to cultivate communities marked by justice, accountability, and love.

This proposal frames moral character through a narrow relational mandate that does not, in itself, prevent harm, nor does it account for the reality that, “…power imbalances, emotional harm, and spiritual confusion, particularly for women, children, and historically marginalized persons,” are not unique to polyamorous relationships structures, even including those that are formally monogamous.

From a trauma-informed perspective, policies that seek to define and restrict relational structures can unintentionally reinforce systems of shame, silence, and spiritual coercion, particularly for those already navigating complex or marginalized identities.

…Faithfulness is not measured by conformity to a single relational model, but by the presence of mutuality, consent, dignity, and care. For these reasons, this recommendation does not strengthen the Church’s witness. It risks narrowing it, placing boundaries where the gospel calls us to practice humility, discernment, and trust in the work of the Spirit among God’s people.

We would like to suggest redirecting ourselves from a narrow understanding of relationships towards a more comprehensive, theological, and ethical framework for diverse flourishing families and relationships in our faith communities.

As a result of the pushback, we expect it to go down in flames.

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7 responses to “Presbyterian Church Revolts After New Proposal Requires ‘Monogamy’ For PCUSA Clergy”

  1. tekton

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    says:

    They rejected God’s standards and now they have no standards at all. “professing themselves to be wise, they became fools …”

  2. DragonCayenne

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    says:

    The fact that they must include,”….their clergy have to be monogamous and sexually faithful to only one person,” is an unambiguous billboard that Satan alone controls that organization. Most certainly, it is NOT a house of God. At Rapture, they will be saying, “Ooopsie.”

  3. Tom James

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    says:

    PCUSA would be much better served if they recommitted to the beliefs of basic Christianity…you know, the ones about sin and man’s need for a Savior.
    Because if sin is no longer sin then man does not need a savior from its effects, and our need for Jesus simply vanishes.

  4. How can people keep doing down a demonic slippey slope? This is a prime example

  5. Glee

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    says:

    It is blasphemous to call the PCUSA a “Christian” denomination. Its practices and allowances (like the fake pope’s) openly defy biblical mandates, justifying even heinous sins. The PCUSA is a fake Christian, even satanic, social club that rises up in the very face of God, embracing as good what Scripture calls evil, even an “abomination to God,” (including adultery, every category of LGBTQ behavior, and the acceptance of worshipping other so called gods, like Allah).

    The PCUSA and other fake hellish organization offers false security to sinners, encouraging their rebellion against God’s commands by putting bizarre spins on condemning passages and offering free passes for sins that Scripture CLEARLY says will send them to hell. Europe and America are n a free fall because of demon possessed faux preachers…who are destined for the worst of eternal torment. God has one word for these leader. Woe! But don’t take my word for it. Read it yourself.

  6. Mark Siegman

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    says:

    Sadly typical of the PCUSA and yes, these will go down in flames. Redeemed Zoomer is fighting a losing battle.
    As the PCUSA continues shrinking (from combined 4.3 million members in the prior denominations in 1965; to 3.1 million in 1983 when the PCUSA was established, to 1 million today (if that – they’re late in reporting 2025 numbers, that were expected to drop below 1 million) they can pontificate about dismantling structures of oppression object that fidelity and monogamy are symptoms of “white privilege”, while their shrill pronouncements are heard by few. But they feel virtuous and superior in their condescension.

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