Minister defies church law again in 'marriage' ceremony The Layman Online Tuesday, November 12, 2002 The November Web newsletter of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church says the church's pastor, the Rev. A. Stephen Van Kuiken, along with the Rev. Judy McBridge, conducted a "marriage" ceremony Oct. 12 for a lesbian couple in violation of church law. Van Kuiken, who faces disciplinary charges that accuse him of violating his oath of office and thereby renouncing the jurisdiction of the Presbyterian Church (USA), has publicly declared for months that he will not obey sections of the denomination's constitution with which he disagrees. "I have participated in the ordination of elders and deacons who are self-affirming, 'unrepentant practicing homosexuals,' and I have officiated and condoned worship celebrations of same-sex unions that are, in every important respect, Christian marriages," Van Kuiken, said in a letter that he made public to all Presbyterians through Presbyweb. In 2000, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission ruled that same-sex union services 1) must not be considered marriages, 2) must not resemble marriages and 3) must not sanction sex between two unmarried people. Furthermore, the decision in Benton v. the Presbytery of Hudson River said, "Inasmuch as the session is responsible and accountable for determination of the appropriate use of the church building and facilities (G-10.0102n), it should not allow the use of the church facilities for a same-sex union ceremony that the session determines to be the same as a marriage ceremony. Likewise, since a Christian marriage performed in accordance with the Directory for Worship can only involve a covenant between a woman and a man, it would not be proper for a minister of the Word and Sacrament to perform a same-sex union ceremony that the minister determines to be the same as a marriage ceremony." On March 14, 2002, Presbyterian Paul Rolf Jensen of Reston, Va., filed accusations in the Presbytery of Cincinnati against Van Kuiken and the Rev. Hal Porter, the retired pastor of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church. Both later issued public statements acknowledging their defiance of the denomination's ordination standard and church law that prohibits ministers from conducting marriage services for same-gender couples. Jensen says he received a faxed, unsigned letter dated August 8, 2002, "presumably from the Investigating Committee, asking me to refrain from further comments on this case in the press. I responded the same day to the stated clerk, and stated that since the accused individuals were very public about their defiance, and had made the case a public issue, I was not about to adhere to their request, which had no basis in the Book of Order in any instance." Jensen said he notified the presbytery that he wished to testify before the investigating committee. "On August 22nd I was sent a letter by the stated clerk saying that I would hear from the investigating committee again," he said. "To date, I have not."

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