Church to appeal minister's acquittal

Presbyterian officials say ruling that minister did not violate church law with same-sex weddings is flawed

Presbyterian Church officials will appeal the acquittal of a minister tried earlier this month for violating church law by marrying same-sex couples, a church lawyer said Wednesday.

The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr of San Rafael was cleared March 3 by church tribunal after a two-day trial at Santa Rosa's Church of the Roses.

A lawyer for the Presbytery of the Redwoods, Stephen Taber, said he will argue the decision was technically flawed and represented an incorrect interpretation of the church constitution.

The appeal will be reviewed by the permanent judicial commission of the San Francisco-based Synod of the Pacific, which governs Presbyterian churches in Northern California, Nevada, Oregon and parts of Washington and Idaho.

The commission will decide over the next few months whether to reverse the decision or affirm the ruling, Taber said.

The case could also be retried, he said.

"We're not trying to strip Rev. Spahr of her ministry or ordination," Taber said. "We simply want her to comply with the rules."

Spahr, a 63-year-old lesbian activist, said she was hopeful her acquittal would be upheld. Two lesbian weddings were the basis for the charges, prompted by an inquiry from a Seattle-based Presbyterian minister.

At trial, "voices of those long silenced were heard," she said.

"The decision was a breakthrough," said Spahr, ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1974. "It was a healing moment for so many people who are told their relationships are second-class."

Spahr's attorneys said she won on two counts. The tribunal of ministers and church elders concluded that the church constitution and case law do not prohibit the performance of same-sex marriages. The panel also endorsed Spahr's argument that she was acting within her "right of conscience" in performing the marriages.

"In reality, there is no strict prohibition on same-gender weddings," said Spahr's lawyer, Sara Taylor. "I think the synod will see it the same way."

The 6-1 decision by the panel applied only to the Presbytery of the Redwoods, a regional body of the church that spans the North Coast from Marin County to the Oregon border.

The presbytery had 45 days to appeal. It decided to do so on a vote of the investigating committee, Taber said.

The reviewing body could choose to return the case to Santa Rosa for retrial, Taber said. That would add to legal costs for the presbytery that have so far reached $30,000.

Spahr was defended by a private legal firm at no charge.

Taber said the case would not be affected by a policy-making meeting of the Presbyterian Church's General Assembly this June in Birmingham, Ala. The assembly will consider changes that could allow the ordination of homosexuals or repeal the fidelity and chastity law, which defines marriage as a union of a man and a woman.

"The case will be decided on what the law was at time of the actions," Taber said. "I can't imagine they can go back and retrospectively change the law on a pending case."

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