In its ruling, the PJC praised Spahr while criticizing the denomination’s alleged “conflicting” and “contradictory” rules with regard to marriage. The ruling ordered Spahr to avoid such offenses in the future.

The Rev. Jane Spahr, a well-known activist for the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) cause in the Presbyterian Church (USA), has appealed the Presbytery of Redwoods’ censure for same-sex marriages she performed while it was legal in California to do so.

In August, the Redwoods Presbytery Judicial Commission ruled that Spahr:
· Violated the PCUSA constitution and a previous General Assembly PJC ruling by marrying a same-sex couple. According to W-9001, a same-sex ceremony “is not and cannot be a marriage.”
· Persisted in a pattern of disobedience by stating that the ceremonies she performed were marriages of the same sex.
· Intentionally and repeatedly acted in violation of the authoritative interpretation of the Book of Order (as stated above) established in a previous case involving Spahr, thereby violating her ordination vows (W-4.4003e).

She was cleared on a fourth charge of publicly, intentionally and repeatedly violating the PCUSA Book of Order. In its ruling, the PJC praised Spahr while
Redwods PJC Ruling criticizing the denomination’s alleged “conflicting” and “contradictory” rules with regard to marriage. The ruling ordered Spahr to avoid such offenses in the future.

Released on Oct. 25 on Spahr’s Web site, the appeal to the Synod of the Pacific alleges 13 errors by the presbytery. According to the appeal, the presbytery PJC erred in:
· Entering a verdict that contradicts its own findings that Spahr was faithful to both Scripture and the constitution in celebrating marriages of same-gender couples;
· Constitutional interpretation when it determined Spahr committed “the offense of representing that a same sex ceremony was a marriage”;
· Constitutional interpretation when it determined Spahr’s actions were in direct violation of the Constitution of the Book of Order as interpreted by the General Assembly PJC

Read More: http://www.layman.org/News.aspx?article=27744

[Editor’s note: the original URL (link) referenced in this article is no longer valid, so the link has been removed.]