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Gay News: A Presbyterian minister, who officiated at sixteen gay weddings, is to appear before her church's disciplinary court on Thursday.
By: Nigel Robinson
Spahr performed 16 weddings
Spahr performed 16 weddings
Gay weddings minister to face church trial
The Reverend Jane Adams Spahr presided over the ceremonies in California, during the brief period when same-sex marriages were legal in that state.
The Presbyterian Church has accused her of publicly and intentionally flouting its constitution which states that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
In 2007 the Reverend Spahr, who is a lesbian, and who came out in 1978 before her church banned gay ministers, faced similar charges.
Then she was accused at officiating at two lesbian marriages, but was acquitted after the court decided that the ceremonies were not real marriages.
“More and more ministers are going to be put in a position where their church members are going to come to them asking for a wedding and they’re going to have to say yes,” the Reverend Beverly Brewster, Spahr’s defence lawyer told the Los Angeles Times.
“Not to do so would violate many constitutional provisions about non-discrimination in pastoral care.”
If she is found guilty, Spahr could be defrocked.
However she sees the trial as an opportunity to “invite the Church to become open, to listen to the stories of these amazing couples – I hope more hearts and mind are opened.”
