Church Courts--We're still in the "litigation season"

This is why I'm going to spending tomorrow inside a motel conference room along with other volunteers from all over the midwest the Permanent Judicial Commissions in each of the presbyteries of the Synod of the Lakes and Prairies of the PCUSA. We'll all be tutored in Presbyterian polity, procedure and case law. It's a CLE for Presbyterian judges. Tis the "litigation season" in protestant denominations.

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Presbyterian court upholds ban on gay marriages
Friday, May 18, 2007
By Ann Rodgers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A regional Presbyterian court's decision yesterday upheld Pittsburgh Presbytery's ban on gay marriage ceremonies, and reiterated the national church's stance that ordination requires chastity in singleness or fidelity in heterosexual marriage. But the language was such that both sides of the local debate regarding the ban on actively gay clergy in the Presbyterian Church (USA) found aspects of the ruling acceptable.

The Rev. James Mead, pastor to Pittsburgh Presbytery, called it a "stunning" victory that "affirms the presbytery's freedom to decide how we will apply the national standards in Pittsburgh." The Rev. Janet Edwards, a local Presbyterian pastor who may face charges for conducting a lesbian marriage ceremony, called the ruling "judicious." She believes it will prevent her conviction because it implies that the national church constitution is silent about same-sex marriage ceremonies.

Despite the ruling's declaration that ordination standards on sexual behavior are "mandatory," she believes it allows room to maneuver. The Synod Permanent Judicial Commission ruled after a trial Monday and Tuesday in Camp Hill, Cumberland County, regarding a resolution that Pittsburgh Presbytery passed in October. That resolution called compliance with the ordination standards of the Presbyterian Church (USA) -- which require chastity in singleness or fidelity in heterosexual marriage -- "essential," and that no exceptions would be allowed within Pittsburgh Presbytery. It also said clergy "shall be prohibited from conducting same-sex marriages within the jurisdiction of this presbytery."

The Rev. Randall Bush of East Liberty Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Mary Louise McCullough of Sixth Presbyterian Church, Squirrel Hill, along with their lay governing boards, and the Rev. Wayne Peck of Community House Presbyterian Church, North Side, had filed a complaint last year saying that the presbytery exceeded its authority to interpret the church's constitution. The pastors were unavailable yesterday.

Both sides have 30 days to appeal to the national court. The commission ruled 8-3 that the presbytery could not call the ordination standards "an essential of Reformed polity." "The presbytery has the authority and duty to examine all candidates individually but does not have the authority to create a 'super standard' in so doing," it said. But, in language that strongly affirmed the national ban, it said that candidates could disagree with ordination standards, but that obedience was mandatory. "The freedom of conscience ... allows candidates to express disagreement with the wording or meaning of provisions of the constitution, but does not permit disobedience to those behavioral standards," the ruling said.

The standard of faithful marriage or chaste singleness "is a behaviorally measured standard which applies to all ordained officers of the church. It is clear. It is mandatory." The court voted 11-0 that Pittsburgh Presbytery had the right to prevent clergy from conducting same-sex "marriages," as long as they were able to bless same-sex "unions," a practice that the church's high court has upheld. "The Book of Order ... states that when the Constitution is silent 'powers not mentioned [are] reserved to the presbyteries.' Therefore the Presbytery of Pittsburgh has the authority to establish policy disallowing ministers of word and sacrament to conduct same-sex marriages."

Dr. Mead was jubilant about the ordination language, saying that Pittsburgh Presbytery examines all candidates individually for two years, so would have no problem with applying the standard on a case-by-case basis. Dr. Edwards saw room to maneuver in the "mandatory" language. "The Presbyterian church ... has allowed a space where candidates for ordination can plead a case for being released from mandatory requirements," she said.

(Ann Rodgers can be reached at arodgers@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1416. )