Spahr facing pretrial hearing for performing same-sex marriage By Craig M. Kibler The Layman Online Thursday, September 1, 2005 An October 26 pretrial hearing will be held for lesbian activist Jane Spahr, who is facing a trial by the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of the Redwoods for performing a same-sex marriage service in Canada in defiance of the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). Spahr is the director of That All May Freely Serve, one of a number of organizations seeking to repeal the denomination's ordination standard and redefine marriage as being a committed relationship between two people, not a union of a man and a woman as Scripture and 2,000 years of church teaching defines it. The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission has ruled that blessing ceremonies for same-sex couples are not prohibited as long as they are not specifically identified as "marriages" or "unions." During a demonstration at the 2000 General Assembly, Spahr said such blessing ceremonies "are marriages. These are weddings. And let's call them what they are." Spahr is accused of officiating in 2004 at the marriage in Ontario of two gay men, identified at the time by TAMFS as "Douglas Potter, co-Moderator of our TAMFS board, and Gregory Partridge, our newsletter co-editor." Both of the men are members of Downtown United Presbyterian Church in Rochester, N.Y. TAMFS is a mission project of Downtown United Presbyterian Church in partnership with Westminster Presbyterian Church in Tiburon, Calif., near Spahr's home. In her organization's February 2004 newsletter, Spahr wrote: "Yes, this February 28th, I traveled to Ontario, Canada, a country which recognizes our full right to be married. A Unitarian minister, the Rev. John Mayer, and I performed Doug and Greg's marriage service." A team of five presbytery investigators – at the request of the Rev. Jim Berkley of Bellevue, Wash., who was then the director of the Issues Ministry at Presbyterians For Renewal – conducted an inquiry. The presbytery's interim stated clerk, Joan Runyeon, told The Marin Independent Journal at the time that, "Some people feel very strongly about it. Other people don't. If it's proved that Janie did this wedding, it would be hard to believe anyone was hurt by it. But it is against the Constitution." Spahr said, "I am so grateful to Redwoods Presbytery, as they have a long history of standing for justice for LGBT people, and they have stood by me and my ministry in this area and throughout the country for the last nearly thirty years. I know how difficult it has been for them to take this step, but I am glad the conversation may now take place." "Help me understand why" she said, "when a wonderful loving couple; members of the congregation who co-sponsor our ministry; and dear friends who have been together for 20 years invite me to participate in this sacred and civil marriage – publicly marking their integrity and love – why I would ever refuse? As a matter of my faith, my love, my pastoral care for and with them, along with my conscience and sense of justice – to have done otherwise would have been a violation of my ordination vows." Spahr was ordained in 1974 by the United Presbyterian Church (USA), which merged in 1983 with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.) to form the Presbyterian Church (USA). In 1991, Downtown United Presbyterian Church voted to call Spahr to serve as its co-pastor. The Presbytery of Genesee Valley then voted to accept the recommendation of its Committee on Ministry and approved the call. The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission prohibited that call in a precedent-setting case in 1993, ruling that the leaders of the presbytery failed in their obligation to counsel churches "regarding the standards that represent the 'voice of the whole Church.'" Downtown United Presbyterian Church also has declared publicly that it does not have to abide by G-6.0106b, the "fidelity/chastity" ordination standard in the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA). "We will continue to work to remove G-6.0106b from the Book of Order, and, in the meantime, we will interpret this law so as to permit the ordination of those whom we deem qualified," the session of Downtown said in a declaration titled "Basic Christian Principles." Downtown's officers said they could not "agree with an interpretation of that law which subverts the welcoming essence of our faith and results in the categorical exclusion of all those persons who are in a lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender relationship. We do not believe that same-sex relationships are inherently sinful. We will read and apply all Constitutional provisions in the light of the Constitution as a whole, and will make judgments concerning the life and character of all persons on an individual basis." In 2000, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission said that a resolution to defy the constitution "exceeds the constitutional bounds of freedom of conscience and therefore requires a response on the part of the governing body exercising oversight" – and that even stated "intent" to defy the constitution was not lawful.

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