Presbyterian Minister Cleared of Wrongdoing for Performing Lesbian Wedding

A Presbyterian minister who was accused of violating the religion's constitution when she conducted a wedding ceremony for a lesbian couple has been cleared by the Pittsburgh presbytery. The board voted 9-0 on Thursday to clear Janet Edwards, who wed Nancy McConn and Brenda Cole in 2005.

"This does not settle the disagreement among my colleagues," Edwards said in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "But I am glad that we have the space to follow God's call in our own way."

Because the Presbyterian Church and the government currently define marriage as a union between a man and a woman, Edwards cannot have actually performed a marriage between two women, the court ruled, according to the Pittsbugh Post-Gazette. Edwards has maintained for three years that she officiated at McConn and Cole's wedding.

The church permits clergy to bless same-sex couples, but its constitution says clergy "should not" perform wedding ceremonies. Edwards argued that "should not" does not translate to "must not," giving her leeway to perform the ceremony.

"My ministry has been that of reconciliation," she said, according to the Post-Gazette. "I love the kind of conversation that was had in these two days, when Christians were able to talk together about our understandings of the church and how to engage in the world."

The hearing before the presbytery included three biblical scholars for the defense who said Edwards abided by the church's tradition by interpreting the scripture within its cultural context.

"We know no other word except 'marriage' that fully describes what we share," Cole said in the Tribune-Review article. "It's a covenant between us and God."

This week's hearing was Edwards's second for the same accusation. The presbytery dismissed a former complaint in 2006 on a technicality. A group of 16 ministers filed a complaint, reviving the case after the 2006 dismissal.

"I'm not frustrated; this decision does not surprise me," the Reverend James C. Yearsley, one of the plaintiffs in the case, said in the Tribune-Review article. "This is the direction of our denomination, and it is accelerating. But it's the wrong decision for the wrong reasons. It's a further attempt to accommodate culture at the expense of scriptural authority and belief."

The presbytery has 45 days to file an appeal. (Michelle Garcia, The Advocate)