| TRIAL OVER GAY MARRIAGE: SUPPORTERS PACK SR CHURCH FOR MINISTER CHARGED WITH MISCONDUCT | |
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By GUY KOVNER THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, Santa Rosa, CA March 03, 2006, Front Page A1, above the fold |
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| A minister's faith clashed with Presbyterian Church law against
same-sex marriage Thursday at a Santa Rosa church trial attended by
more than 120 people.
``I believe I was acting as God and the church would have me act,''
the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, 63, told a seven-member tribunal
convened by the North Coast branch of the 2.4 million-member
Presbyterian Church (USA).
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| Far from repentant for performing marriages of two lesbian
couples, Spahr challenged church rules that allow the
blessing of same-sex unions but forbid homosexual marriage. The
minister, herself a lesbian and a San Rafael resident, was the
principal witness during a five-hour proceeding at Church of the
Roses in east Santa Rosa.
She said that the church, by defining gays and lesbians as ``less than'' other people, is ``participating in the violence and death of our people, and that gives me great concern.'' But church officials said the case is about church discipline, not the morality of gay marriage. |
 The
Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, right, is greeted by supporters Barbara Jean
Douglass, left, and Connie Valois on Thursday during a break in Spahr's
trial before a Presbyterian Church (USA) tribunal in Santa Rosa. Douglass
and Valois are one of two lesbian couples Spahr has married. Clicking n
photo will enlarge.Photos by MARK ARONOFF / The Press Democrat |
``The church has a right and a responsibility ... to impose mandatory standards on its ministers,'' said Stephen Taber, a San Francisco attorney prosecuting Spahr on behalf of the Presbytery of the Redwoods investigating committee. Taber also rejected the idea that the church was infringing on Spahr's conscience. ``We are not accusing Rev. Spahr of heresy,'' he said. |
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| The trial is scheduled to conclude this morning with two hours of
closing arguments by Taber and two attorneys representing Spahr.
Seven Presbyterian elders and ministers, sitting as a jury known as the Permanent Judicial Commission, are expected to issue a written decision within two weeks. |
 The
Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, center, sits with her
attorneys, Sara Taylor, left, and Timothy Cahn during a break in her
trial before a seven-member Presbyterian tribunal Thursday. Clicking
on photo will enlarge. |
Spahr, a Presbyterian minister for 32 years, will appeal a conviction, which could carry a penalty ranging from reprimand to removal from the church, said her attorney, Sara Taylor of San Francisco. Spahr was named as a ``lesbian evangelist'' by the church in 1993. She has pleaded not guilty but freely admitted marrying two lesbian couples: one in 2004 in Rochester, N.Y., where her ministry is based, and another on the Sonoma Coast near Jenner last May. The same-sex weddings were included in her annual reports submitted to the Redwood Presbytery, the church's regional body, Spahr said. ``Being a lesbian clergywoman, you learn not to hide anything,'' she testified.No presbytery officials ever questioned her about the marriages, she said. The Rev. Robert Conover, who holds the title of Stated Clerk, a leadership position in the presbytery, testified that local church officials were aware of Spahr's actions and that some had attended her marriage ceremonies.Joan Runyeon, the former presbytery clerk, said the investigation of Spahr's marriages was triggered by an inquiry from the Rev. James Berkley, a Seattle Presbyterian minister. Officials at the church General Assembly office in Louisville, Ky., advised her that Berkley's query amounted to an allegation of misconduct, Runyeon said. The trial audience was packed with Spahr's supporters.``I think Janie Spahr is a modern-day prophetess,'' said the Rev. Beth Wheeler of Northminster Presbyterian Church in El Cerrito. ``An unjust law is no law at all,'' said the Rev. Robert Crouch of Community Presbyterian Church in Pismo Beach, quoting Martin Luther King.Church law is wrong, he said, and Spahr's trial may change it. ``That's why I admire her,'' he said.
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| You can reach Staff Writer Guy Kovner at 521-5457 or
gkovner@pressdemocrat.com. © 2006 The Press Democrat |
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