Pastors react to ruling on gay unions
SR Presbyterian church
circulates letter against clearing of
minister who married same-sex couples
By Katy Hillenmeyer
March 06, 2006
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT, Santa Rosa CA
After a Presbyterian church tribunal exonerated a San Rafael minister
for performing same-sex marriages, local pastors advised their
congregations Sunday about the ruling, in one case calling the
clergywoman's actions "an affront" to scriptural teachings.
In a two-page pastoral letter to members of First Presbyterian Church of
Santa Rosa, the Rev. Dale Flowers and his associate pastor, the Rev. Mike
Griffin, said they agreed with the lone dissenter in Friday's 6-1 ruling
in favor of the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr.
Spahr, a 63-year-old lesbian activist, was accused of violating church law
for marrying two lesbian couples, but a seven-member tribunal gathered at
Santa Rosa's Church of the Roses found she was "acting within her right of
conscience."
That panel, known as the Permanent Judicial Commission, deliberated for
five hours over an issue they acknowledged has been debated within their
church for 15 years.
Though the tribunal found no cause to prohibit same-sex marriages, Flowers
and Griffin denounced Spahr's role in such unions as "an egregious
violation of our church's constitution."
Neither minister agreed to be interviewed about the letter, which was
available with other literature on a table at the back of church during
Sunday services.
The Spahr ruling does not trump civil law's prohibitions against same-sex
marriage, and it applies only within the Presbytery of the Redwoods, a
regional church body reaching from Marin County to Oregon. Yet the
national attention it's garnered reflects the ongoing schism within the
broader Presbyterian Church USA and other denominations over gay marriage.
Santa Rosans David and Ellen Rebstock are former elders in a Cincinnati
Presbyterian church whose pastor was ousted in 2003 for marrying same-sex
couples.
"We feel very strongly that all people are equal in the sight of God,"
said David Rebstock, the father of a gay son who applauded Spahr's
defiance of an "unjust" law. "It is only just and right that gay couples
should be able to symbolize their commitment and covenant in marriage
before God."
But the Rev. James Berkley, a Seattle-area minister whose complaint about
Spahr triggered an investigation into the marriages, said a biased, "bent
system" rendered Friday's decision. He said homosexuals are called to
chastity, just as widowed persons and singles are.
"Having sex is not the be-all and end-all of personhood and fulfillment,"
said Berkley, interim director of the group Presbyterian Action for Faith
and Freedom. "Allowing same-sex marriages is a promotion of a lifestyle
... that God does not want for us."
The Rev. Sherry Budke echoes Berkley's belief that the Bible restricts
sexual relationships to married men and women. At First Presbyterian
Church of Ukiah on Sunday, she offered to speak one-on-one with members of
her congregation about the case, but did not focus on it from the pulpit.
"I don't think it's something to be preached about, especially during the
season of Lent when we're focusing on other things in our churches," Budke
said, "... such as our own individual sin and seeking to be right with
God."
Your can reach Katy Hillenmeyer 707-521-5274
khillenmeyer@pressdemocrat.com
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