‘Right of Conscience’ Cited in Church Ruling

A Presbyterian minister under scrutiny by a religious judicial council for officiating at the unions of two lesbian couples was recently found not guilty of violating the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

The commission of the Presbytery of the Redwoods, whose jurisdiction covers the coastal region from north of San Francisco to the Oregon border, ruled this month that the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr acted within her “right of conscience” as a Christian when she performed the commitment ceremonies, said Robert Conover, stated clerk of the presbytery.

As a lesbian, he said, Spahr believes that two people in love should not be denied the joy of holy matrimony -- regardless of sexual orientation. Therefore, the court decided it could not punish her for acting as she did.

Since coming out of the closet a quarter-century ago after a 13-year marriage that produced two children, Spahr has fought for the acceptance of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people of faith, in part through the national organization That All May Freely Serve.

Assistant pastor of First Presbyterian Church in San Rafael, Spahr said she cried when the judicial council, meeting in Santa Rosa, read its verdict March 3 after about five hours of deliberation. The two couples in question were there to offer support.

“We affirm that the fundamental message of the Scriptures and confessions is the proclamation of the good news of God’s love for all people,” the commission wrote. “It is a message of inclusiveness, reconciliation and the breaking down of barriers that separate humans from each other.”

Conover compared Spahr’s stand to that of Rosa Parks. The civil rights activist chose to go against local law and sit at the front of a segregated Montgomery, Ala., bus.

Spahr said she had no choice but to preside over ceremonies for Barbara Jean Douglass and Connie Valois in Rochester, N.Y., in 2004, and Annie Senechal and Sherrill Figuera in Guerneville, north of San Francisco, last year.

“Could you imagine if I’d said no? That would be going against everything I believe, everything I’ve learned about people and about God and faith,” she said.

The Presbytery of the Redwoods brought charges against her after another minister saw a website that mentioned a same-sex marriage she presided over in Canada. If convicted on the charges, Spahr could have had her ordination revoked.

In 2000, the Presbyterian Church’s highest court ruled that ministers could “bless” same-sex unions but not preside over such ceremonies or call them weddings, Conover said.

At issue in the Spahr case wasn’t whether same-sex marriages are permissible but whether Spahr violated the church’s constitution.

The decision in her favor concerned her right of conscience and does not change the constitution’s provisions on same-sex marriage.

“It doesn’t translate to ‘Now, they’re OK to do.’ Not in this presbytery, anyway, and certainly not in this denomination,” Conover said.

Rabbinical Group Delays Vote on Gays

A group of rabbis scheduled to determine whether Conservative Judaism will endorse same-sex unions and the ordination of gays and lesbians has postponed its vote until December.

The Committee on Jewish Law and Standards, the Rabbinical Assembly’s authority on Jewish law and tradition composed of 25 rabbis and five nonvoting laymen, last addressed such ordinations and unions 14 years ago. It banned both.

The committee met last week in Baltimore and was given four proposals: one advocating a revision of Jewish law to include gay marriage and rabbis, two opposing such actions and one that suggests altering the movement’s interpretation of Leviticus 18:22 -- “Do not lie with a male as one lies with a woman; it is an abomination.”

Committee members discussed changes to the proposed rulings, which will be reintroduced in December, the next time the committee will have a full roster.

About 50 of 1,600 Conservative rabbis worldwide have officiated over same-sex unions without fear of discipline, said Rabbi Elliot N. Dorff, rector and philosophy professor at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. Although the committee’s rulings are not binding, they shape the practices and beliefs of the denomination.

Conservatives sit between the Reform tradition, which accepts gay marriages and ordinations, and the Orthodox, which forbids both.

Submissions to the committee take two forms.

A teshuvah responds to a question of a rabbinic ruling, while a takkanah enacts legislation, said Dorff, the committee vice chairman.

Dorff was one of three rabbis who wrote the proposed ruling that would reinterpret the Leviticus verse.

The ruling would ban anal sex but sanction same-sex unions.

His proposal is a teshuvah and would require six votes to pass. A takkanah needs 20 votes.

The committee strives for pluralism, meaning it wants to give rabbis more than one “valid option,” Dorff said.

Committee members may simultaneously endorse two opposing views, at which point rabbis could decide for themselves which to adopt.

Protestants Join Secular Task Force on Rights

A coalition of Protestant congregations advocating equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people joined forces Monday with the secular National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.

Matt Foreman, task force executive director, said the merger with the Minneapolis-based Institute for Welcoming Resources aims to bolster support for gay rights among Christian denominations with “new resources, training and strategies.”

Founded in 1973 and based in Washington, the task force is the nation’s oldest gay and lesbian civil rights group.

The institute says it represents 1,500 congregations with 1 million members.

Altadena Pastor Faces Censure Over Ceremony

A longtime openly gay Altadena pastor faces removal from the clergy after he exchanged rings and vows with his partner during a worship service at his church.

The Southwest California Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America recently formed a five-member panel to determine whether the Rev. John M. Kauffman, pastor of Christ the Shepherd Lutheran Church, should be reprimanded for the ceremony, which disregarded the Lutheran Church’s policy that requires gay pastors to be celibate. It will convene later this month.

Southwest California Bishop Dean W. Nelson said he supports Kauffman’s decision, but added that his personal beliefs will not be a factor in the synod’s decision. If the panel, after conducting interviews, suggests disciplinary action, Nelson said he would file formal charges that would lead to a hearing presided over by both local and national synod members.