08229
March 25, 2008
Appeal hearing in Spahr same-sex wedding case set for April 25
General Assembly PJC to hear Spahr’s appeal of synod ruling
 The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr
LOUISVILLE — The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, who in a reversal of an earlier decision was found guilty last year of violating the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s constitutional ban on performing same-sex marriages, is headed back to church court on April 25.
That’s when the Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly, the PC(USA)’s highest court, is scheduled to convene here to take up an appeal by Spahr of a ruling by the Synod of the Pacific’s Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC).
The synod PJC ruled 6-2 last August that while Spahr of San Rafael, CA, “acted with conscience and conviction,” her actions were still at odds with the church’s constitution when she married two lesbian couples in 2004 and 2005.
The PC(USA) Book of Order defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and church courts have ruled that Presbyterian ministers may not utilize the marriage liturgy in same-sex ceremonies.
The synod court gave Spahr the mildest penalty it could have — a rebuke — which amounts to a warning not to repeat the violation. She could have been removed from ordained ministry. Spahr, 65, who retired last year, then appealed the decision to the General Assembly PJC.
The synod ruling reversed a March 2006 decision by the Presbytery of the Redwoods’ PJC that found Spahr acted within her rights as an ordained minister when she married the two couples.
“My sadness is that I feel I am not on trial but the church that raised so many of us to live loving and caring lives is on trial,” Spahr told the Presbyterian News Service in a written statement. “The church is on trial for forgetting and wrongly judging its very own children — the church which raised us to love.”
Spahr, a long-time lesbian activist, has organized several events surrounding the appeal hearing, such as a silent witness at the Presbyterian Center the day before and morning of the hearing, and a worship service and reception following the hearing at Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati.
Before retiring, Spahr was founding-minister director of That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS), which works for the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered Presbyterians in the life of the church, including their ordination as officers.
The charges against her were sparked by an inquiry from the Rev. James Berkley, a member of Seattle Presbytery who is currently director of Presbyterian Action, an arm of the Institute on Religion and Democracy.
When asked for a comment regarding the Spahr appeal, Joey Mills, stated clerk of the Synod of the Pacific, said: “the [church judicial] process is being followed.” |
