Faced with a key vote on same-sex marriage, The Presbyterian Church (USA)'s General Assembly on Saturday elected the Rev. Dr. Neal Presa of New Jersey as its moderator, putting in place a leader favoring "unity with difference" in the life of the church amid the debate

Presa, who has been pastor at Middlesex Presbyterian Church in Middlesex, was elected on the fourth ballot.

He received 52 percent of the vote, or 338 of 688 commissioners, according to the Office of the General Assembly.

Rev. Presa, who is opposed to same-sex marriage and chose a vice-moderator candidate in favor of it to run together with him, recently expresssed his commitment to "unity with difference" within the church. The general assembly will vote on a measure that would redefine marriage as an institution for "two people" and another which would reaffirm the current definition as being between a man and a woman.

Rev. Presa made the statement in a press release from his candidacy website on June 18 in response to learning from the Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe of National Capital Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., that that she had signed a marriage license in April in Washington D.C. for two women.

Rev. Presa said he previously knew of their opposing views, but said it was up to her and her presbytery to determine if the marriage was a Christian marriage. Both women were not members of Rev. McCabe's Church but had Christian backgrounds.

"I am genuinely committed to Christ, to the Church, to our conversations, to the cause of unity with difference, and to the gifts that Tara and I offer and model that I am willing to risk losing the election if need be," he said at the time.

In the same round the other candidates received, respectively: Susan Krummel, 24 percent; Robert Austell, 22 percent; and Randy Branson, 2 percent.

After the vote he was awarded the moderator's cross and moderator's stole.

He replaces outgoing moderator Cynthia Bolbach.

Presa, who was born in Guam, describes himself in part as a Filipino American, ecumenist and liturgy scholar.

He serves as Chair of the Special Committee on the Heidelberg Catechism, and on the Executive Committee of both the World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) and of the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC).

He graduated with a Master of Divinity degree from San Francisco Theological Seminary, a Master of Theology degree from Princeton Theological Seminary, and a Ph.D and Master of Philosophy degree from Drew University.

He is married to Grace Presa and has two sons, Andrew and Daniel.