By Edward Terry, The Layman

At its Sept. 24 meeting, Baltimore Presbytery had the first reading of an overture that would strike any references to marriage being a civil contract between a man and woman from the Directory of Worship in the Book of Order.

Instead, the Presbyterian Church (USA)’s constitution would say that marriage is a “covenant” between “two people” if the overture is approved by the General Assembly in 2010 and ratified by a majority of denomination’s 173 presbyteries.

The overture also replaces “husband and wife” with the word “couple” and recognizes state laws that create a “civil contract.”

Submitted by the session of Govans Presbyterian Church, with at least 10 other Baltimore congregations concurring, the overture gets a second reading at the presbytery’s Nov. 19 stated meeting. There is a deep divide in the PCUSA over this issue.