Another Presbyterian Church (USA) is raising eyebrows over its newly hired pastor. North Anderson Community Church Presbyterian Church in Anderson, South Carolina announced it had hired Rev. Laura Bethany Buchleiter to lead its church. Buchleiter will serve as the church’s supply pastor, meaning a temporary minister that serves a congregation that is not seeking an installed, permanent pastor. North Anderson, part of PCUSA, is a small congregation, with an average attendance around 20 to 30 congregants.

Buchleiter education includes studying at Moody Bible Institute, later receiving a Bachelor’s degree in communications and Christian ministry from Dallas Baptist University, and a Master of Divinity from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis. In 2021, Buchleiter became the first trans-identifying person to be ordained by a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship-affiliated congregation.

Buchleiter has discussed his transition in a 2023 book review in Christian Century, where he also identified himself as being intersex. “My journey in discovering my intersex variations and navigating gender dysphoria challenged my addiction to answers and pushed me toward what [author of the book being reviewed] calls an ‘acceptance of the space around the lines as a necessary part of the image itself.’” During an interview on the “Gay with God” podcast, Buchleiter noted that his transition contributed to his wife leaving him and stated that he identified as a lesbian because of his continued attraction to women. In a Facebook post, Buchleiter announced the moved to Anderson, writing, “moving to Anderson, SC, the first of August — bringing an end to a three-month nomadic season of life” and that the part-time position would leave Buchleiter with “time to keep working on other jobs and projects.”

PCUSA has become increasingly accepting of LGBTQ+ leadership and support within it general doctrine. In July, the denomination voted overwhelmingly in favor of transgender surgeries in children. The vote took place during PCUSA’s 227th General Assembly. The denomination is also requiring member churches to indicate their willingness to have an LGBTQ+ pastor lead their congregation. Churches will be required to fill out what is called a Ministry Discernment Profile to indicate the church’s stance on hiring LGBTQ+ pastors. While the denomination continues to embrace liberal theology, it has dwindling membership numbers. To date, PCUSA lost more than 26,000 members and 128 congregations in 2025 and has lost over 1 million members since 2000.