Presbyterian court clears minister in gay ‘marriage’ case

Presbyterian court clears minister in gay ‘marriage’ case

BOSTON — The top court of the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination has found a Boston minister not guilty of violating church rules against performing gay “marriages” in a narrow ruling that keeps the churchwide ban in place.

The Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA) on Feb. 2 cleared Jean Southard on charges she violated church rules and her ordination vows by “marrying” two women in 2008 in Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal.

The wedding took place before the PCUSA had determined, later in 2008, that the ban on same-sex “marriage” is “mandatory” for ministers, the 16-member court ruled. The court said that ruling should not be applied retroactively to Southard’s case.

Clergy in the PCUSA, which has about 2.2 million members, are allowed to bless same-sex relationships but are not permitted to “state, imply or represent” those ceremonies as marriages. A regional church court in California found a minister guilty of that offense late last year. (TAB)