The volatile issue of gay marriage reached the highest realms of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) on Friday, when the top church court reviewed the case of a longtime minister found guilty of violating denominational law for officiating at the weddings of two lesbian couples.

During a two-hour hearing, an attorney for the Rev. Jane Spahr said the now-retired California minister committed no offense and followed her conscience when she married two lesbian couples in 2004 and 2005.

"This is a community of faith that knows well that all of its members are equal in God's eyes," attorney Sara Taylor said during the hearing at denominational headquarters in Louisville.

In arguing against Spahr's action, Stephen Taber, an attorney for the Presbytery of the Redwoods, which oversees denominational churches from north of San Francisco to the Oregon border, said the case was a difficult one because Spahr is respected and church opinion is split on gay-rights matters.

But he said the church constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
"No one in this church is above the law," he said.

Spahr, 65, was found guilty last year by a regional judicial committee and was given a rebuke—the lightest possible punishment. That ruling reversed a lower church court's decision.

Spahr appealed to the church's top court, and the gray-haired grandmother sat calmly during the hearing.

Afterward, Taylor said a ruling in their favor would represent a "turning point" for the nearly 2.3 million-member Protestant denomination, which like some other mainline denominations has struggled to stay unified amid differences over sexuality issues.

posted by Imapp Staff at 11:25 AM | link

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