As polyamory gains exposure, other mainline denominations have begun to confront their stance on it. At least three Episcopal priests have renounced their ordination vows due to tensions between their church roles and family structures, and in 2024 the Episcopal Church considered, but did not advance, a resolution intending to study diverse family structures. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada voted in 2023 to create national resources to support conversations that include “ethical non-monogamous relationships.”

(RNS) — A proposal that would require ordained clergy to be monogamous is on the docket at the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s General Assembly this summer.

The overture, CON-10, has generated strong reactions online but not yet earned broad support from PCUSA groups. A separate  asks for theological studies on gender and sexuality, life-giving relationships and the Christian vocation of family that would support the denomination’s commitment to inclusion of different familial realities. Together, these overtures show that as polyamory gains visibility in broader culture, it may have policy implications, especially in theologically progressive Christian denominations. 

“I think it is the next big conversation that most mainline denominations will have,” said the Rev. Claudia Aguilar Rubalcava, director of engagement for the LGBTQ-affirming nonprofit More Light Presbyterians.

The board and staff of More Light Presbyterians released a statement last month, saying the proposal on monogamy targets queer communities. 

“It centers a single model of relationship as the only faithful expression of Christian life, ignoring both the breadth of biblical witness and the lived realities of many faithful people,” the statement says. “Scripture speaks richly about covenant, mutuality, justice, and love but does not prescribe one uniform relational structure across all contexts.”

For More Light Presbyterians, the proposal on monogamy hits close to home. Aguilar Rubalcava told RNS that at speaking engagements, she routinely encounters polyamorous Presbyterians hungry for support. Kate Davoli, who serves as co-moderator on the board of More Light Presbyterians, told RNS they were dismissed from the denomination’s ordination process for being openly polyamorous. (The Pittsburgh Presbytery told RNS Davoli was “advised to withdraw from the ordination process due to current PCUSA polity requirements.”)

Currently, the PCUSA’s governing documents don’t include the word “polyamory,” which involves emotionally intimate, often sexual relationships with multiple people. In 2011, the PCUSA removed language from its Book of Order requiring ordained clergy to live in “fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness,” allowing LGBTQ individuals to seek ordination in the denomination. The Book of Order currently defines marriage as “a unique commitment between two people, traditionally a man and a woman, to love and support each other for the rest of their lives.”

CON-10 would explicitly require ordained ministers in the PCUSA to engage only in monogamous sexual relationships. It argues that polyamory or polygamy “can create power imbalances, emotional harm, and spiritual confusion, particularly for women, children, and historically marginalized persons.”

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