Despite a watermark change in ordination guidelines, a group of concerned Presbyterians are still hopeful that the denomination’s highest court will correctly settle a dispute seeking the nullification of a gay minister’s ordination.

With its passage on May 10, an Amendment to the governing document will allow presbyteries within the Presbyterian Church (USA) to ordain heterosexuals who commit adultery, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender (LGBT) individuals as deacons, elders and ministers.

Simmering at the center of the 10A controversy is a seven-year-old case that’s set to be heard on appeal by the denomination’s General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission in late July.

Eric Parnell (and others) v. The Presbytery of San Francisco, was filed in 2004 in an attempt to void the ordination of a gay candidate, Lisa Larges, as a PCUSA minister. The case was originally decided in favor of the complainants. However, it was eventually overturned by the Synod of the Pacific Permanent Judicial Commission (SPJC), 5-4, in 2010 after having been previously remanded back to presbytery’s Permanent Judicial Commission. In April, the complainants filed an appeal to the GAPJC.

Larges, who was involved in a same-sex relationship that she later described as a marriage that included sexual relations, submitted a statement of departure from the fidelity/chastity standards set forth at that time in the PCUSA Book of Order – a standard now struck from the denomination’s governing document, following the passage of 10A. Larges is currently the minister coordinator of That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS), a group that advocates church membership and leadership inclusion for LGBT people.

Despite the change in ordination standards, the complainants, including seven people and one PCUSA church, believe their plea to nullify Larges’ ordination should be decided upon foundational, Biblical principles, which they say transcend denominational statutes.

“The Parnell case argues that the ordination of the candidate who refuses to abide by G-6.0106b (the fidelity and chastity requirement) is disqualified because her commitments violate the Scriptures, which are ‘the only rule of faith and manners,’” said Mary Naegeli, one of the original complainants.

“It is required by the Presbyterian ‘Historical Principles of Church Order’ that we follow Scripture in this matter, whether the standard is stated explicitly in our Book of Order or not,” she added.

The Parnell appeal alleges the SPJC ruled incorrectly when it affirmed the presbytery’s decision by citing the Knox Authoritative Interpretation. The codicil states a ministerial candidate may depart from ordination standards and still be approved if the Committee on Preparation for Ministry agrees to abide by the departure.

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