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Detroit pastor reveals gay marriage, steps down

DETROIT (AP) — A Christian leader has resigned from a Detroit church after disclosing she married a woman.

The Detroit Free Press reports (http://on.freep.com/16ixW19 ) that Bishop Allyson Nelson Abrams stepped down Friday from Zion Progress Baptist Church. The church's first female pastor told congregants Oct. 6 that she married a pastor affiliated with a Washington, D.C., church.

They married in Iowa, where same-sex marriage is legal.

Abrams says she resigned because she "didn't want to split the church any further" on the issue. The 43-year-old was once married to a man.

She says she's considering joining two other denominations but declined to identify them.

The Birmingham, Ala., native was ordained in 2001.

Abrams married Diana Williams, a bishop emeritus with Washington's Imani Temple African-American Catholic Congregation. It has separated from the Catholic Church.

The Associated Press is an independent global news organization dedicated to factual reporting.