The 2 million member Presbyterian
Church (USA) will vote on a gay marriage resolution at its biennial
convention taking place in Detroit, Michigan.
If approved Friday, Presbyterians would
become the biggest Christian group in the United States to allow its
congregations to support marriage for gay and lesbian couples, the
Detroit
Free Press reported.
At its 2012 convention in Pittsburgh,
church delegates narrowly (338-308) voted down a similar measure.
Opponents warn that the move would
create division between the church and other more conservative
Presbyterian churches outside the U.S., while backers argue that the
church should lead by example.
Currently, Presbyterian ministers can
bless the unions of gay couples so long as ceremonies are not
structured as weddings.
In 2010, delegates voted in favor of
allowing non-celibate gay clergy, a policy change decades in the
making.