PRESBYTERIAN ministers and elders involved in divorce proceedings will not automatically have to resign, according to guidelines adopted at the church's general assembly yesterday in Belfast.
The guidelines call for "sufficient flexibility for each situation to be considered individually on its merits". The issue was discussed in private session.
The assembly rejected an amendment which would have added a caveat that when "neither adultery by the spouse nor desertion by the spouse led to the breakdown of the marriage, and the minister has initiated, pursued and completed divorce proceedings, and subsequently married another, then the minister shall be required to resign from office
Also discussed in private were changes in church law, which could mean that elders who undermine the ministry of their clergymen could be stripped of their office or face public admonishment.
The assembly also passed a motion allowing the merger of two congregations on the city side of Derry. During the Troubles, thousands of Protestants left the area to live in the Waterside district of the city.
The amalgamated First Derry and Claremont churches will be known as First Presbyterian Church, Londonderry (First Derry & Claremont).