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(Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) A Presbyterian
minister was charged with breaking church law for performing a marriage for two
women, a decision that comes as the church struggles with an ongoing feud over
the Bible and homosexuality.
Janet Edwards, a parish associate at the
Community of Reconciliation Church in Pittsburgh, said she was charged Tuesday
with presiding at the June 2005 wedding in contradiction of the church's
position on marriage.
The constitution of the Presbyterian Church
(U.S.A.) reserves marriage for a man and a woman, although ministers may bless
other types of "holy unions."
"For me, scripture teaches that the message
of marriage is the covenant - the love and commitment between the partners"
and not their gender, Edwards said Wednesday.
The Presbyterian Church, like other mainline
denominations, has been struggling to stay unified despite differences over
whether the traditional biblical view condemning gay relationships should stand.
Presbyterians who support same-gender unions say
the Bible's social justice teachings on inclusiveness should prevail over what
they see as an outdated view of homosexuality.
In June, a Presbyterian national assembly adopted
what was meant to be a compromise plan regarding ordaining gays. It limits sex
to men and woman who are married, but grants new leeway for local congregations
to sidestep that church law and allow openly gay ministers to take office.
Church tribunals are expected to get a run of
complaints that will test the compromise.
"I want to participate in the working out of
this disagreement over the place of gays and lesbians in the church," said
Edwards, an advocate for gays and lesbians during her 28 years as a minister.
Nancy McConn, 66, a retired computer software
developer from Dallas, W.Va., said "Having a spiritual marriage was so
important to both of us. We're both spiritual people."
Her partner, Brenda Cole, 52, a clinical
psychologist and Buddhist, said she was confident that if they "continue to
speak the truth" - that love and commitment, not gender, matters -
"the church will come to see that reality."
Edwards is also charged with irregularities
contrary to the constitution for language she used because the marriage was
interfaith; but she said the church allows such leeway.
Two fellow pastors who saw the marriage
announcement in a newspaper made the complaint, Edwards said.
If found guilty, Edwards said she faces
punishment ranging from a rebuke to removal from the ministry.
A message left for the Pittsburgh Presbytery,
which has about 34,000 members, was not immediately returned Wednesday.
In March, a longtime Presbyterian minister who
was the first of her faith to be tried for officiating same-sex marriages was
acquitted of the same charge.
A regional judicial commission of the
Presbyterian Church ruled 6-1 that the Rev. Jane Spahr of San Rafael acted
within her rights as an ordained minister when she married two lesbian couples
in 2004 and 2005.
©365Gay.com 2006
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