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CajunRick
Network Helper
| Joined: | Fri Sep 29th, 2006 |
| Location: | Houma, Louisiana USA |
| Posts: | 5310 |
| First Name: | Rick (& Kermie) | | Gender: | Male | | Faith History: | Lifetime Catholic, Latin Rite |
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Posted: Sun May 11th, 2008 11:44 pm |
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The highest court of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has ruled that a San Rafael minister did not violate church law by presiding over same-sex marriages – because the Presbyterian Church does not recognized same-sex marriage.
The Rev. Jane Spahr, 65, a lesbian activist and retired Presbyterian minister, said that she has presided at hundreds of same-sex unions since 1974. In recent years, because homosexuals have wanted marriages instead of simple unions, Spahr has been conducting marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples – at least 14 such ceremonies in the last five years.
Church prosecution of Spahr began in 2006, when the Rev. James Berkley, a Seattle minister, complained of Spahr to the Redwoods Presbytery, to which Spahr belongs. Though its own judicial panel ruled 6-1 in Spahr’s favor, the presbytery appealed to the synod court, which by a 6-2 vote decided Spahr had violated church law. The case then went to the church’s Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly in Louisville, which issued its decision on April 29.
The Judicial Commission ruled that since Presbyterian church law defines marriage as “a civil contract between a woman and a man,” Spahr, in performing same-sex marriage ceremonies, was "doing that which by definition cannot be done." On this account, the commission ruled, she was not guilty of violating church law nor should she be censured, as the synod court had ordered.
At the same time, the Judicial Commission said, clergy "who are authorized to perform marriages shall not state, imply or represent that a same-sex ceremony is a marriage. ... A same-sex ceremony is not and cannot be a marriage."
In response to the ruling, Spahr has said she will continue to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, for which she could be sanctioned in the future.
The issue of same-sex marriage has divided the Presbyterian Church for more than 30 years, reported the April 30 Santa Rosa Press Democrat. Like the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has been experiencing secession of some of its churches. A more traditional group, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, has said it will take any churches that vote to leave the PCUSA. About 30 out of 11,000 PCUSA churches have voted to leave the denomination following a 2006 national assembly that allowed some congregations and presbyteries to recognize the validity of sex occurring outside natural marriage. About 20 more churches have threatened to leave the PCUSA, according to an Oct. 13, 2007 Associated Press report.
Over the past 20 years, the Presbyterian Church has seen a steady decline in its membership. Though it is the nation’s ninth largest church, the Presbyterian Church membership went from 3 million in 1986 to 2.27 million in 2006.
The above article is reposted with permission from the California Catholic Daily.
Last edited on Sun May 11th, 2008 11:45 pm by CajunRick
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Understanding is the reward of faith. Therefore seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand. - Augustine
Rick Luquette
Luquette Lane
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