Minister accused of marrying gay couples states his defense By John H. Adams The Layman Online Wednesday, October 19, 2005 The Rev. Jim Rigby, pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, has published his defense against charges that he willfully and deliberately violated his ordination vows by "marrying" same-gender couples. Rigby conducting wedding rites for homosexual couple in 2004 The gist of his argument, which is posted on the Web site of That All May Freely Serve, is that he vowed at ordination "to place Jesus Christ over every other authority, including the church." He does not deny that he conducted marital rites for gay couples in April 2004 during an event sponsored by homosexuals on the campus of the University of Texas. The mass-marriage event was part of a media attention-getter sponsored by several homosexual organizations. One, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Affairs Agency, issued "wedding" certificates to 50 couples. The Presbyterian Church (USA) does not recognize homosexual marriages and neither does the state of Texas. The PCUSA's Book of Order says the only valid marriage is between a man and a woman. A Presbyterian student at the University of Texas and his hometown pastor filed the complaint against Rigby. An investigating committee of the Mission Presbytery dismissed the charges, but the presbytery's Permanent Judicial Commission ordered a new investigation. "Like so many of my peers, I now face a crisis in my ministry," Rigby said. He added, "To affirm Christ is head of the church means that our theology and polity must resemble the humble and nonjudgmental Jesus. There is nothing clearer in the teaching of Jesus than that we should not judge one other. While we must be selective as we choose our leaders, such decisions must be based on inner qualities of character not on external factors like race, gender or sexual orientation." Rigby appealed to arguments that have frequently been cited by proponents of homosexual marriages and the ordination of practicing homosexuals: Jesus never mentioned homosexuality (although he did address sexual immorality, a broad category that includes same-gender sexual relations); Reformed theology is not fundamentalism; The call to be guided by the Spirit in interpreting Scripture "eliminates literalism as an option;" the Bible refers to other cultural models (including polygamy) for marriage; "When we accepted Scripture as God's word to 'the church universal,' we made a vow to multiculturalism." Rigby contended that, "A growing number of scholars believe that the church's condemnation of homosexuality stems more from culture than from Scripture itself." To support his case, Rigby quotes from the report of the denomination's Theological Task Force on Peace, Unity and Purity: "There is rich diversity in the Body of Christ and there are deep disagreements among its members. The unity we seek cannot be reduced to either uniformity or unanimity. In particular, unity cannot be attained if the voices of some members of the body are ignored." Rigby does not deny – nor has he ever denied – that he "married" homosexual couples. But he argues reformation must recognize changing culture. "To be a member of the Reformed faith does not mean to worship at the graves of Calvin and Luther," he said. "To be worthy of the Reformation it is not enough to praise the noble dead. We must ourselves become reformers. … From our forebears we gratefully receive the principles of the Reformation, but we cannot, and should not, force their answers upon a different time. We must think with today's science and act upon today's necessity. … To be worthy of the Reformation we must know that God's greatest word is yet unsaid."

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