PCUSA cleric to appeal same-sex marriage rebuke
A retired California Presbyterian minister, rebuked by the church after being charged with violating her ordination vows by performing marriages of same-sex couples, plans to appeal the ruling, which she said sent contradictory messages about the church's support of gay rights.
The August 27 ruling by a court of the Redwoods Presbytery, a church district of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in Napa, California, reprimanded Jane Spahr, 68, for violating church policy on same-sex marriage by conducting marriage ceremonies for 16 same-sex couples between June and November 2008. Same-sex marriage was legal in California during that period.
At the same time, the court commended Spahr for "her prophetic ministry" in supporting "people who seek the dignity, freedom and respect that they have been denied." The court noted that the Presbyterian Church's own rules offer "conflicting and even contradictory rules and regulations that are against the Gospel."
