I think it is safe to say that if one were even to suggest opening dialogue concerning the possibility of gay ordination within the PCB, this would be sufficient grounds for discipline. They do not have women elders or deacons, and in 2008, entered into full fraternal relations with my denomination, the PCA.

While most Presbyterians, it would seem, regardless of their denominational affiliation, could wish that this day had never come, it nevertheless has arrived. Rev. Scott Anderson has been ordained the PCUSA’s first openly gay minister.

Sadly, this news has quickly spread to other lands. Two of Brazil’s leading papers,Rio de Janeiro’s “O Globo,” and Sao Paulo’s, “A Folha” had full page articles today concerning Rev. Anderson’s ordination.

Globo of Rio de Janeiro: http://g1.globo.com/mundo/noticia/2011/10/igreja-presbiteriana-dos-eua-ordena-primeiro-ministro-gay.html

Folha de Sao Paulo: http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/mundo/987823-igreja-presbiteriana-dos-eua-ordenara-1-pastor-abertamente-gay.shtml

Neither article mentions that the Presbyterian Church of Brazil, “A Igreja Presbiteriana do Brasi” (the mainline, historic and largest of the Presbyterian denominations in Brazil today) unilaterally severed their relations with the PCUSA twenty five years ago.

While the PCB has an estimated one million members, many Brazilians will naturally make the mistake of linking Presbyterians and their practices in the United States with Presbyterians in Brazil. Nothing could be further than the truth. I attended the General Assembly of the PCB in Curitiba in July 2010 and worked in Lisbon, Portugal for some twenty years along side PCB missionaries.

I think it is safe to say that if one were even to suggest opening dialogue concerning the possibility of gay ordination within the PCB, this would be sufficient grounds for discipline. They do not have women elders or deacons, and in 2008, entered into full fraternal relations with my denomination, the PCA.

To see the PCB’s reaction to the PCUSA’s new ordination standards, (in Portuguese) you can read what Dr. Augustus Nicodemus Lopes, chancellor of Mackenzie University, Sao Paulo, has written on their denominational web page (www.ipb.org.br).

The article is entitled, “Why are Presbyterian churches around the world accepting homosexual pastors?” In it, he discusses the theological erosion in both the PCUSA and the Church of Scotland that preceded their changes in ordination standards.
http://www.ipb.org.br/portal/artigos-e-estudos/733-rev-augustus-nicodemus-por-que-igrejas-presbiterianas-pelo-mundo-estao-aceitando-pastores-homossexuais [Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]

May the Lord have mercy on His people.

Tom Hudson is a Teaching Elder in the Presbyterian Church in America and a long time missionary. He now serves as Director of Presbyterian Mission International.