MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A Wisconsin man who left his Presbyterian
ministry in California more than 20 years ago after telling his
congregation he was gay has now become the denomination's first
openly gay ordained minister.

Scott Anderson served as a minister in Sacramento, Calif., from 1983 until 1990. When a couple threatened to reveal his sexual orientation, he came out to his congregation and resigned because the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) barred homosexuals from serving as
ministers.

But things changed last year when the church removed the ban, clearing the way for Anderson's ordination Saturday at Covenant
Presbyterian Church in Madison, Wis.

Anderson thanked Presbyterians for lifting the ban on openly gay ministers, and added, "I give thanks for those who disagree with
what we're doing today yet who know that we are one in Jesus Christ."

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)