US Presbyterians to allow clergy to perform gay weddings

The largest Presbyterian church group in the US has voted to allow its clergy to perform same-sex weddings.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) also approved a change to the church's constitution that says marriage can be a union of "two people".

But the latter vote will need to be approved by regional groups.

The church, which has about 1.8 million members, lost more than 400 of its congregations after it voted to ordain gay clergy in 2011.

Nineteen US states and the District of Columbia recognise same-sex marriage.

The vote came after debate during the church's week-long annual General Assembly.

The Rev Krystin Granberg of the New York Presbytery, where gay-unions are recognised, said she receives requests "all the time" from friends and parishioners to preside at their weddings.

"They want to be married in the church they love and they want me to do it," Rev Granberg said during the debate. "I want pastoral relief."

Others urged the church body to delay changes.

"We are laying hands on something that is holy, that God has given us, so we need to be sure any changes we make are in accord with God's will revealed in Scripture," Bill Norton, of the Presbytery de Cristo, which covers parts of Arizona and New Mexico, said.