Source: Press-Democrat (Santa Rosa), Louisville Courier Journal
The final decision on whether the Rev. Jane Spahr violated Presbyterian Church law by performing marriages for two lesbian couples will be announced Tuesday.

Spahr, 65, a lesbian activist and retired Presbyterian minister from San Rafael, had expected a verdict Monday but it did not come from Presbyterian Church headquarters in Louisville, Ky.

She has focused her ministry on gays and lesbians and is an outspoken advocate for allowing them to be ordained.

The Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly, the equivalent of the Presbyterian denomination’s supreme court, heard Spahr’s case on Friday and deliberated over the weekend.

She sat quietly during the hearing as about two dozen supporters watched from the audience.

"Is this to be a church ruled by law that prohibits those who are different from marrying, or is this to be a church of grace (with room for) all people at the table?" said Sara Taylor, an attorney representing Spahr.

No one disputes that Spahr performed marriage ceremonies for two lesbian couples, one in California in 2005 and the other in New York in 2004. Neither state allows civil marriages of same-sex couples, but Spahr said she considered the ceremonies to be "ecclesiastical" marriages.

Taylor argued that the church constitution contains no specific prohibition against same-sex marriage.

But Stephen L. Taber, representing the prosecuting committee that brought charges against Spahr in her presbytery of the Redwoods, disagreed.

The church constitution defines marriage as between one man and one woman, he said.

A 2000 decision by the judicial commission held that Presbyterian ministers could conduct services blessing same-sex relationships but could not present them as marriages, and that the services of blessing should not resemble weddings.

Taber said while many Presbyterians want to change church policy and allow same-sex marriages, many others do not.

Spahr, ordained as Presbyterian minister in 1974, has made no secret of marrying gay and lesbian couples, contending it is a matter of principle and conscience.
Church prosectors said she broke church law, contained in the Presbyterian Church constitution, which defines marriage as “a civil contract between a woman and a man.”

The 2.3-million member Presbyterian Church, a mainstream Protestant denomination, has been sharply divided over homosexuality, including the question of same-sex marriage, for more than 30 years.

Taylor said Spahr always felt called to a ministry to "marginalized" persons, saying that even as a girl she wrote "Jesus" on one of her shoes and "God" on the other, and that as a softball captain she made sure to pick the unpopular kids for her team.

And even her opponents spoke highly of her.

"This is a difficult case for all of us, because we are dealing with an individual who is highly respected in the church," Taber said of Spahr. But he said that while the church respects the right to disagree with its law, it doesn't allow ministers to defy it.

"The constitution and the way it's been interpreted (by the judicial commission) makes it clear that same-sex marriage is currently not permitted under the constitution of the church," he said.

The Redwoods presbytery originally dismissed charges against Spahr, but its prosecuting committee appealed to the regional Synod of the Pacific. That synod held that Spahr had violated church law and ordered the presbytery to issue a "rebuke," the mildest form of punishment that she could receive.

Before it could do so, Spahr appealed to the top judicial body which heard her case Friday.

"I feel when people are labeled less than, or second-class, that it goes against everything I believe the Gospel is about," Spahr said in an interview.

"For me, not to take these relationships seriously would be going against my call, my faith and the integrity of my conscience," she said.

Full article: Rev. Spahr awaits decision on church appeal | Press-Democrat
Presbyterian church deciding case of pastor who performed gay marriages | Louisville Courier-Journal