If approved, an overture from Boston Presbytery would direct the Presbyterian Church (USA) Board of Pensions to change its policies regarding benefits for the same-sex spouses and partners of ministers and church personnel.

Asking for policies that do not penalize couples, the benefits would be based on the state law governing the couple’s relationship.

Currently, the Philadelphia-based Board of Pensions will not accept an application for a legally married same-sex spouse because Pennsylvania law and the PCUSA constitution define marriage as being between a man and woman only. The Board of Pensions policy also seeks to administer the benefits plan “to comport with the normative values of the church,” the overture states.

There are additional overtures before this summer’s General Assembly that would change the constitutional definition of marriage, as well as the oft-debated ordination standards. Boston Presbytery’s Overture 27, if approved and ratified by a majority of PCUSA presbyteries, would replace the current Book of Order definition of marriage as being a covenant between “a man and a woman” to being between “two people.”

Massachusetts, where Boston Presbytery is located, is one of the few states where same-sex marriage is legal.