Presbyterian minister faces church panel in gay marriage dispute

<p>NAPA — The definition of marriage is changing and the trial of a Presbyterian minister for allegedly violating church rules by marrying same-sex couples is part of the that process, a seminary dean and biblical scholar said Tuesday before a Presbyterian tribunal.</p><p>The Rev. Deborah Krause, who is academic dean of Eden Seminary in Missouri and a Presbyterian minister, said the definition of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman is a “culturally conditioned claim that is in the process of being reconsidered.”</p><p>“You all are on the front line of the church in responding to that,” Krause told a six-member panel of Presbyterian elders and pastors hearing the case against the Rev. Jane Spahr of San Francisco at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Napa.</p><p>Spahr, 68, was cleared by the church's highest court two years ago of violating Presbyterian Church law by marrying gay and lesbian couples. But the verdict also said that “a same-sex ceremony is not and cannot be a marriage,” and she was back on trial for continuing to perform such ceremonies.</p><p>A retired Presbyterian minister and former “lesbian evangelist,” Spahr is accused of violating the Presbyterian Church constitution by marrying 16 same-sex couples, including two Santa Rosa men, while same-sex marriages were briefly legal in California in 2008.</p><p>Spahr, who lives with her son in San Francisco, admits marrying the gay and lesbian couples, calling it an act of conscience and contending that church law gives her that latitude.</p><p>“I plead not guilty,” Spahr said at the opening of Tuesday's session.</p><p>She is on trial before the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbytery of the Redwoods, which represents 54 congregations from Marin County to the Oregon border.</p><p>The same body, comprised of different members, acquitted Spahr on similar charges in a disciplinary action in 2006 at Presbyterian Church of the Roses in Santa Rosa. She was convicted on appeal to a mid-level church commission, then acquitted by the church's highest court in 2008.</p><p>JoAn Blackstone, the prosecutor representing the Redwoods Presbytery, said the case hinged on Spahr's alleged violation of the high court's verdict and its definition of marriage.</p><p>“We did view that she had crossed the line,” Blackstone said, referring to the church investigating committee that decided to bring charges against Spahr, who previously said she considers Blackstone “a dear friend.”</p><p>Krause, who testified in Spahr's defense, said that the Presbyterian Church constitution's definition of marriage “has no scriptural basis” in the Old or New Testament.</p><p>She noted that Spahr had asked the Presbyterian General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, the high court, for guidance after the California Supreme Court authorized same-sex marriages in April, 2008.</p><p>The court declined to respond, a step that Krause called “a failure of courage on the part of the church.” Spahr performed the 16 marriages in question before California voters passed Proposition 8 in November, 2008, outlawing gay marriage.</p><p>Gay rights issues, including same-sex marriage and the ordination of gays and lesbians, have sharply divided the 2.3 million member U.S. Presbyterian Church for more than 30 years.</p><p>A motion to approve of same-gender marriage was tabled at the Presbyterian General Assembly in July, pending the results of a two-year study by the denomination.</p><p>A federal judge in San Francisco ruled Proposition 8 unconstitutional earlier this month, but gay marriages remain blocked pending an appeal by backers of the ballot measure, approved by 52 percent of California voters.</p><p>Testimony by some of the couples she married is scheduled to continue Wednesday and possibly Thursday, and Spahr also will appear before the panel.</p><p>Spahr said Tuesday she was grateful that some of the “wonderful couples” she married had a chance to tell their story at the trial.</p><p>“I don't know, I never know," she said when asked if she expected another acquittal.</p><p>Closing arguments will be made by Blackstone of Little River in Mendocino County, and Spahr's lead defense attorney, Scott Clark of San Anselmo.</p><p>A verdict is expected shortly after the trial concludes on Thursday or Friday, said Jim Jones of Napa, a Presbyterian elder who is moderator of the trial panel.</p><p>If found guilty, Spahr faces church censure that could include being defrocked.</p>