Same-sex marriages verdict awaited

Article published - Aug 18, 2007

Presbyterian church appealed minister's acquittal last year over marrying gay couples

By GUY KOVNER
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

A verdict is expected early next week in the second church trial of a Presbyterian minister from San Rafael who admitted marrying two lesbian couples, igniting a controversy within the 2.4 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr said she was unsure of the outcome following a two-hour appeal hearing before a church tribunal Friday in Burlingame.

"I can never tell," said Spahr, 65, a lesbian activist who was acquitted last year in Santa Rosa on charges she violated Presbyterian church law by performing same-sex marriages.

Spahr said she enjoyed the reunion with the two couples whose marriages were the basis for her prosecution, and who testified on her behalf last year. "It's good for people to see us," Spahr said. "I hope the church will recognize that God's love is truly open to all."

The Santa Rosa tribunal ruled 6-1 that Spahr had acted "within her right of conscience" in performing the marriages. The Presbytery of the Redwoods, a North Coast regional body of the church which brought the charges against Spahr, appealed the acquittal.

Friday's hearing was conducted by the Synod of the Pacific, and its ruling can be appealed to the church's highest judicial level, the General Assembly. Sara Taylor, a lawyer for Spahr, said the synod tribunal's verdict should be mailed out on Monday.

Presbyterians have wrestled with the issue of gay marriage for 30 years. Spahr, ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1974, retired last week as director of her Rochester, N.Y.-based ministry that advocates for lesbians and gays within the Presbyterian Church. She said Friday she will continue to serve as a minister, performing weddings, funerals and other services.

If convicted of violating church law, Spahr would face sanctions ranging from a reprimand to removal from the ministry.