PCUSA court clears cleric in gay marriage case
The top court of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) has found a Boston
minister not guilty of violating church rules against performing gay
marriages. The narrow ruling keeps the churchwide ban in place.
The
PCUSA's Permanent Judicial Commission on February 2 cleared Jean
Southard of charges that she violated church rules and her ordination
vows by marrying two women in 2008 in Massachusetts, where gay marriage
is legal.
The wedding took place before the PCUSA had determined,
later in 2008, that the ban on same-sex marriage is "mandatory" for
ministers, the 16-member court ruled. The court said that the rule
should not be applied retroactively to Southard's case.
