wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Austin pastor won't be tried on gay 'marriage' accusation

[PCUSA NEWS <PCUSA.NEWS@ECUNET.ORG>]

Note #9083 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

06041
Jan. 31, 2006

Austin pastor won't be tried
on gay 'marriage' accusation

Mission Presbytery declines to press case against Jim Rigby

by Jerry L. Van Marter

LOUISVILLE - For the second time, an investigating committee in Mission
Presbytery has declined to file charges against the Rev. Jim Rigby, an
Austin, TX, pastor accused of participating in gay "marriage" ceremonies.

	Rigby, the pastor of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in North
Austin, participated in a mass same-sex blessing ceremony on a "marriage
equality day" on the University of Texas campus on April 23, 2004. 

	On that day, Rigby reportedly told The Daily Texan: "We're not
staging this as a Las Vegas-style wedding chapel. We're talking about
faithful relationships. Marriage is not about sexuality or making babies."

	A complaint was filed against Rigby by Robert Brown, a University of
Texas student, and his pastor, the Rev. William Parr of Nor'Kirk Presbyterian
Church in suburban Dallas. Their attorney is Paul Rolf Jensen, a Californian
who works in suburban Washington, DC. Jensen has filed dozens of complaints
against Presbyterian ministers and governing bodies throughout the U.S.

	Brown and Parr alleged that Rigby violated his ordination vows and
the Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), which restricts
marriage to a man and a woman. The General Assembly Permanent Judicial
Commission (PJC) has ruled that same-sex ceremonies are not forbidden, as
long as they are not considered to be the same as marriage services.

	About a year ago, a previous presbytery investigating committee
dismissed the complaint against Rigby, but on appeal the presbytery's PJC
ordered another investigation.

	Last week, the second panel also declined to press formal charges.
The committee cited confidentiality rules in declining to talk about its
deliberations.

	According to the Austin American-Statesman, Rigby wanted a trial
because he wanted church courts to tackle the issue of same-sex relationships
head-on. He reportedly told the committee: "If your conscience tells you that
I am guilty and this is wrong, I'm asking you to kick me out of the church."

	Jensen said the second investigating committee "retraced the steps of
the first ... and reached the same end-point." He called its decision "wholly
contrary to our scriptures and polity," concluding that the panel members had

"- to their shame - done more to destroy the PC(USA) than they could possibly
imagine.  This is indeed a sad day for all Presbyterians who hold dear the
historic faith of our church."

	The limits of PC(USA) ministers' participation in same-sex services
will be addressed again next month when the Rev. Jane Spahr, a longtime
lesbian activist in the PC(USA) and director of the gay rights organization
"That All May Freely Serve," goes on trial in Redwoods Presbytery in northern
California on charges similar to those against Rigby.

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