Editing Presbyterian Church (USA) (section)

===General Assembly 2010===
In July 2010, by a vote of 373 to 323, the General Assembly voted to propose to the presbyteries for ratification a constitutional amendment to remove from the Book of Order section G-6.0106.b. which included this explicit requirement for ordination: "Among these standards is the requirement to live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman (W-4.9001), or chastity in singleness." This proposal required ratification by a majority of the 173 presbyteries within 12 months of the General Assembly's adjournment.<ref>{{Citation |url= http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100709/pcusa-assembly-oks-removing-gay-ordination-ban/ |title= PCUSA Assembly OKs Lifting Gay Ordination Ban, Christian News |journal= Christian Post |date= July 9, 2010 |access-date= February 28, 2012 |archive-date= November 24, 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101124083246/http://www.christianpost.com/article/20100709/pcusa-assembly-oks-removing-gay-ordination-ban/ |url-status= live }}</ref><ref>{{Citation | url = http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/05/10/Presbyterians_Approve_Gay_Clergy/ | newspaper = Advocate | title = Presbyterians approve gay clergy | date = May 10, 2011 | access-date = May 11, 2011 | archive-date = May 14, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110514165608/http://www.advocate.com/News/Daily_News/2011/05/10/Presbyterians_Approve_Gay_Clergy/ | url-status = live }}</ref> A majority of presbytery votes was reached in May 2011. The constitutional amendment took effect July 10, 2011.<ref>{{Citation | newspaper = [[The New York Times]] | url = https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11presbyterian.html?_r=3 | title = Presbyterians Approve Ordination of Gay People | date = May 11, 2011 | first = Laurie | last = Goodstein | access-date = February 28, 2017 | archive-date = June 13, 2017 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170613084235/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/us/11presbyterian.html?_r=3 | url-status = live }}</ref> This amendment shifted back to the ordaining body the responsibility for making decisions about whom they shall ordain and what they shall require of their candidates for ordination. It neither prevents nor imposes the use of the so-called "fidelity and chastity" requirement, but it removes that decision from the text of the constitution and places that judgment responsibility back upon the ordaining body where it had traditionally been prior to the insertion of the former G-6.0106.b. in 1997. Each ordaining body, the session for deacon or elder and the presbytery for minister, is now responsible to make its own interpretation of what scripture and the confessions require of ordained officers.