Congregations switch denominations over gays, Scripture

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Two large Presbyterian congregations in California have voted to leave the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) over the possibility of gay leadership and the authority of Scripture.
   
Members of First Presbyterian in Fresno and Trinity Presbyterian in Clovis voted Sunday to join a more conservative denomination—the Evangelical Presbyterian Church.
   
More than 100 churches have left the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) since its leaders voted in July to drop a requirement that church officials live in “fidelity with the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness.“