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April 25, 2008

PC(USA)’s top court reviews same-sex wedding case

Spahr’s lawyers: There’s no constitutional ban on same-sex weddings

by Evan Silverstein
Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE — Lawyers for the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, who is facing charges for performing weddings for two lesbian couples, told members of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)’s highest court on Friday (April 25) that there is no language in the denomination’s constitution that prohibits same-gender couples from marrying.

The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr

Spahr, in a reversal of an earlier decision, was found guilty last year of violating the PC(USA)’s constitutional ban on performing same-sex marriages.

The Permanent Judicial Commission of the General Assembly convened at the Presbyterian Center here to take up an appeal by Spahr of that ruling by the Synod of the Pacific’s Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC).

Sara Taylor of San Francisco, one of Spahr’s lawyers, said the 65-year-old retired minister and lesbian activist acted within her rights and did not violate church law by performing the weddings.

“We will agree that there is descriptive language regarding the definition of marriage in the Book of Order, we do not deny that, but unlike ordination or other things there are no mandatory prohibitions,” Taylor told the General Assembly PJC in her opening remarks. “There is no language in the constitution of this church that prohibits same-gender couples from marrying. Disciplinary actions are under the purview of the presbytery.”

In August, the synod PJC ruled 6-2 that while Spahr, who lives in San Rafael, CA, “acted with conscience and conviction,” her actions were still at odds with the church’s constitution when she married the couples in 2004 and 2005.

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.

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 recommended that Spahr receive the mildest penalty — a rebuke — which amounts to a warning not to repeat the violation. She could have been removed from ordained ministry.

Spahr, who retired last year, then appealed the decision to the General Assembly PJC.

“Her presbytery voted and agreed, having known her for 30 years, having watched her ministry and having supported her ministry, that she was doing the call to which the church had asked her,” Taylor said during the proceedings. “In their ruling [the presbytery] held that the descriptive language in W.49001 [in the Book of Order] does not constitute a prohibition, it is definitional rather than directive.”

Connie Valois, left, and Barbara Jean Douglass, one of the lesbian couples Spahr married, attended the trial.  Photo by Evan Silverstein

Spahr has acknowledged that she’d married Annie Senechal to Sherrill Figuera on May 27, 2005, outside Guerneville, CA, near San Francisco. She also acknowledged marrying the other couple, Barbara Jean Douglass and Connie Valois, on Aug. 21, 2004, in Rochester, NY. Neither state allows civil marriages of same-sex couples, but Spahr said she considered the ceremonies to be “ecclesiastical” marriages. Both couples were present at the hearing.

In his opening statement, Stephen L. Taber, a San Francisco attorney prosecuting Spahr for Redwoods Presbytery, said no one is above the law.

He said the PC(USA)’s constitution defines marriage as being between one man and one woman, and a 2000 decision by the GA Permanent 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 that while many Presbyterians may want to change church policy and allow same-sex marriages, many others do not. He said someone disagreeing with those standards can protest or seek to change them but is bound not to disobey them.

“We have a constitution in this church that attempts to hold us together in a form of order and allows us to act as a community of faith. And when one individual says, ‘Well I disagree with that on very deeply held principles, that is an issue we have to deal with on a constitutional basis,” Taber said in his opening remarks. “As a community no one in this church is above the law, above the constitution of this church. That’s the way we have organized ourselves.”

Taber said while many Presbyterians want to change church policy and allow same-sex marriages, many others do not.  He described the case as a difficult one because “we are dealing with an individual who is highly respected in the church,” Taber said of Spahr.

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.

Spahr and a group of supporters from around the country held a prayer vigil in front of the Presbyterian Center. Photo by Evan Silverstein

Spahr, who acknowledged that she has performed many same-sex marriages in more than 30 years as a Presbyterian minister, said the hearing is “about people wanting to be recognized for all the love that they have. No more second-class. No more ‘less than’ words. We’re here to stop the violence. When people are told they are less than or second-class we become complicit to violence against them for it perpetuates stereotypes and prejudice and we want it to stop.” 

General Assembly PJC members will deliberate and then issue a written decision on Monday (April 28), which is to be released the following day online at www.pcusa.org/gapjc/decisions/decisions.htm after confirmation that both parties have received the ruling. 

But the ruling probably will be no secret by then since Spahr has scheduled a Monday press conference in Tiburon, CA, to respond to the ruling.

Spahr has organized several events surrounding the appeal hearing, such as a silent witness at the Presbyterian Center before the PJC hearing, and a worship service and reception following the hearing at Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati.

Before Friday’s hearing, Spahr and a group of supporters from around the country held a prayer vigil in front of the Presbyterian Center. Some waved signs, one of which said: “Justice for All,” “Discrimination Hurts Us All,” and “It’s Not A Choice! We Are Chosen!”  

“As someone studying and training to enter the ministry I think it’s important to be witness to God’s love and God’s grace that God’s love is for everyone and that as people of faith we have to fight for those who are oppressed,” said Sandra Moon, a 25-year-old seminary student at Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.