12 May 08

The top court in the Louisville-based Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has cleared a California minister of charges she violated the church constitution by performing marriage ceremonies for two lesbian couples. But the court also refused to recognize the ceremonies performed by the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr as weddings on the grounds the church constitution defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

"One cannot characterize same-sex ceremonies as marriages for the purpose of disciplining a minister of the Word and Sacrament and at the same time declare that such ceremonies are not marriages for legal or ecclesiastical purposes," the court said in rejecting arguments from a committee from Spahr's presbytery that prosecuted her. The decision was issued yesterday by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, which heard arguments in the case Friday.

The complicated opinion, in which there were several minority opinions, reflected the long-running struggle in the 2.3 million-member denomination to decide on the role of gays and lesbians in the church. They now are allowed to be members and to have same-sex unions blessed by ministers as long as the ceremonies don't resemble marriages, and they can be ordained, but only if they are celibate.

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