(LA Times) Presbyterians censure retired pastor for marrying same-sex couples

A retired Presbyterian pastor who spent her career ministering to gay men and lesbians has been censured by her denomination for marrying same-sex couples during the brief time such unions were legal in California.

The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr lost her final appeal before the highest court in the Presbyterian Church (USA), which released its opinion Tuesday. The tribunal ruled that the 69-year-old lesbian had violated the church’s constitution and her ordination vows when she officiated at the unions of 16 couples and called them marriages.

A lower court’s rebuke of Spahr was upheld, along with the warning that pastors should not represent the marriage of gay or lesbian couples as Presbyterian marriages….

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5 comments on “(LA Times) Presbyterians censure retired pastor for marrying same-sex couples

  1. Ralph says:

    [blockquote]On Tuesday, Spahr said she would continue to marry gay and lesbian couples regardless of the verdict by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, the church’s version of the U.S. Supreme Court.

    “I feel sad for the couples who are going to hear another no” said Spahr, who lives in San Francisco. “I feel sad for the church. My concern is that it will make ministers fearful to do the most loving and right thing.”[/blockquote]
    If she is unrepentant and defiant, she should be defrocked.

  2. Archer_of_the_Forest says:

    I thought Presbyterians had voted to allow Same Sex Marriages?

  3. Adam 12 says:

    #2: Changes were made to the Book of Order liberalizing standards for candidates for ordination so they are much like TEC.

  4. Archer_of_the_Forest says:

    Ah, so I guess the Presbyterians are predestined to incoherence as we are.

  5. evan miller says:

    #4
    Doubly so.