Monday, March 06, 2006
Not How The Church Should Be In The News
The problem, in this humble commentator's opinion is the word "may." The roots of this problem are quite old.
The church does not allow actively gay or lesbian members to serve as ministers, although Spahr, who was ordained in 1974, was allowed to keep her position after she came out as a lesbian in 1978.There is a difference between grace and prevarication. It should be remembered that failure to take a stand is a stand in and of itself, usually the wrong one.
Update: Prevarication turns to utter failure.
A longtime Presbyterian minister who was the first of her faith to be tried for officiating at the unions of gay couples was acquitted Friday of violating her denomination's position on same-sex marriage.They were asked to decide her guilt - not interpret the Book of Order!
[...]
Because the section of the faith's constitution that reserves marriage for a man and a woman "is a definition, not a directive," Spahr was "acting within her right of conscience in performing marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples," the tribunal said in a written ruling.
And so we find Presbyterian liberals doing the same as the secular ones - turning to the courts when they can't win the votes. We worked very hard a few years ago to get that man/woman language in there! And we did it the right way - we lobbied and got the votes.
Related Tags: homosexual minister, ordination, PCUSA, grace, prevarication
