Below you will find a Letter to the Editor and a local press story about the same event on which we reported last week. Two distinctly different views of the same decision.

Letter to the Editor, The Layman Online: PJC rebuke a faint slap on the wrist
Noel Anderson

Let’s be clear: Jane Spahr won the day.

The rebuke of Spahr shows that we can always count on certain Presbytery Judicial Commissions (PJC) in a time of crisis to stand as tall and firm as a gleaming tower of Jello. This rebuke amounts to the faintest imaginable slap on the wrist, especially when set beside the great heap of adulations to Spahr for being “prophetic,” “faithful” and otherwise enlightened.

Furthermore, the PJC’s apologies to the re-unmarried gay couples do not speak for Presbyterians – or Christians – anywhere. The shame over the Bible’s pronouncements regarding homosexuality has them cringing into a corner from which they can do nothing but fling apologies and excuses for their guilt-by-association with Christians who believe the Bible condemns homosexual behavior as sin.

Don’t imagine Spahr felt rebuked; her fortitude (let’s give her that) in these matters proved a greater force than the PJC representing Redwoods Presbytery, Presbyterians everywhere and Christianity in general.

Read More: http://www.layman.org/LettersToTheEditor.aspx

Noel Anderson is a Minister of the Word in the PCUSA and serves as executive pastor at First Presbyterian Church, Bakersfield, Calif.

Presbyterian Pastor to Appeal Gay-Marriage Verdict
Chris Herlinger, RNS/ENInews

A retired Presbyterian pastor who was formally rebuked by a church court for marrying same-sex couples in California will appeal the ruling.

The Rev. Jane Spahr was found guilty of violating her ordination vows and the rules of the Presbyterian Church (USA) last Friday (Aug. 27)…by the Redwoods Presbytery in Napa, California…

Spahr, a self-described “lesbian evangelist,” has said she wed at least 16 couples from June to November 2008, when gay marriage was legal in California.

Spahr told ENInews she was “stunned” by the decision. She had expected a different outcome given the Redwoods Presbytery’s reputation as a liberal bastion and the emotional court testimony of gay and lesbian couples.

“The law here is wrong,” said Spahr. “It was not a just decision.”

She said that being found guilty while commended for her ministry shows the “church is in great conflict and playing it out on our lives.”

Read More: http://www.ethicsdaily.com/news.php?viewStory=16597