The highest court
of the Presbyterian Church (USA) has found that a
Northern California minister did not violate denominational
law when she officiated at the weddings of two lesbian
couples.
The ruling
announced Tuesday by the Louisville, Ky.-based court
overturns a decision against the Reverend Jane Spahr
last year. A regional judicial committee had found
Spahr guilty of misconduct and gave her a rebuke --
the lightest possible punishment.
The church's high
court found that the ceremonies Spahr performed were
not marriages, so she did not violate the church's
constitution.
The panel
reiterated the church's position that Presbyterian ministers
can bless same-sex unions as long as the ceremonies don't
too closely mimic traditional weddings.
Spahr, 65, of San
Rafael, retired last year. She was the first minister
of her faith to be tried for officiating the weddings of gay
couples, and one of several Presbyterian ministers
facing disciplinary action for similar offenses.
Acting on a
complaint brought by a minister in Washington State, the
Presbytery of the Redwoods, which oversees 52 churches along
the Pacific coast, brought the charges against Spahr
in 2005 for marrying the couples from New York and
California.
In 2006, a
Northern California church court that found Spahr had acted
within her rights as a minister when she interpreted the
church doctrine to permit her to preside over the
weddings. The presbytery appealed the ruling to the
church's regional judicial commission.
Many Protestant
denominations are divided over how they should interpret
what the Bible says about homosexuality. In the Presbyterian
Church, several theologically conservative
congregations have announced plans to break away from
the denomination. (Lisa Leff, AP)
