Harold Porter who was installed in 1983—adopted a policy of open communion called "A Table Set for All".
The Session in 1989 asked through the Presbytery of Cincinnati to amend the PCUSA constitution to adopt open communion in place of existing rules that welcomed only baptized believers, which move the Presbytery narrowly defeated.
[6] Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church has weathered several ecclesiastical controversies in its century and a half.
Smith was a member of the church, a professor at Lane Seminary, and previous Moderator of the Cincinnati Presbytery in 1890.
[7] He was found guilty, despite having outspoken support by then pastor of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Dr. Henry M. Curtis—along with much of the congregation.
Auburn fired Van Kuiken and changed its policy on gay marriage.
Van Kuiken later appealed the ruling of the presbytery and was reinstated as a minister of the Presbyterian Church.