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06598 November 15, 2006
Charges dropped against Pittsburgh minister in same-sex wedding case
Court says statute of limitations exceeded
by Evan Silverstein
LOUISVILLE * A Pittsburgh minister was let off the hook for officiating at the wedding of two women after a church panel determined Wednesday (Nov. 15) that a complaint lodged against her for conducting the nuptials was filed four days too late.
The Rev. Janet Edwards, 56, came under scrutiny from Pittsburgh Presbytery in Aug. 2005 after she married Brenda Cole, 52, and Nancy McConn, 65, who live near Wheeling, WV.
McConn is a lifelong Presbyterian and longtime member of Dallas Presbyterian Church in Dallas, WV. Cole was raised Methodist but now is a practicing Buddhist. Edwards acknowledged that she married the women in a Pittsburgh-area ceremony on June 25, 2005.
But the Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) of Pittsburgh Presbytery voted 8-0 to dismiss the charges * saying the statute of limitations had expired * after deliberating for more than an hour at its meeting in a Pittsburgh hotel Nov. 15.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the panel said the decision does not constitute a vindication of Edwards or any kind of decision on the issue at hand. Rather, it was based on the defense contention that the charges were filed four days past the deadline. Charges had to be filed within a year of the date when the investigating committee began meeting on the case, which was in September 2005.
"This wasn't a simple oversight by the presbytery," said Stephen Paschall, a Pittsburgh lawyer who represents Edwards. "This was a major failure to comply with the due process requirements of the Presbyterian Book of Order * and perhaps an attempt to sweep this issue under the rug."
Despite the presbytery's actions, Paschall expressed satisfaction with the outcome.
"I am pleased with the decision because it creates yet another precedent in which a minister of the Presbyterian Church has not been sanctioned for officiating at the marriage ceremony of a same-sex couple," he said.
"I am very pleased with the decision because it's a small step toward the fulfillment of our church's highest purpose: to show the love and justice of Jesus Christ," Edwards said upon hearing the decision. "As Jesus said before he died on the cross, 'When I am lifted up, I will draw all people to me.' I look forward to the day when my church fully embraces all those who come to share in God's love."
The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Book of Order defines marriage as between a man and a woman, and church courts have ruled that Presbyterian ministers may not utilize the marriage liturgy in same-sex ceremonies.
However, Edwards had said the rite was called a "wedding." She steadfastly argued that there is no prohibition on same-sex ceremonies in the PC(USA) because the ruling said clergy "should not" conduct them * language she believes falls short of a ban.
Edwards was ordained by Pittsburgh Presbytery in 1977 and served as its moderator in 1987, and has been an activist for gay people in the church.
She currently is assigned as an "at large" minister working primarily as a parish associate through the Community of Reconciliation [http://www.communityofreconciliation.org/], an interracial and multi-denominational congregation that is open to sexual minorities.
Edwards had said she welcomed the trial and had issued formal invitations to it and a "worship celebration and lunch" she was to host at a Pittsburgh country club after the trial's conclusion, the Post-Gazette reported.
"I remain hopeful that the end of this trial today will also mark a beginning," said Edwards, who is a direct descendant of legendary Puritan theologian Jonathan Edwards. "The beginning of a genuine dialogue within our church through which together we can reach a conclusion about how to fully welcome all people of God, including lesbians and gay men, into our spiritual community."
The charges against Edwards followed another church court ruling earlier this year involving the marriage of same-sex couples.
The Rev. Jane Adams Spahr, a Presbyterian lesbian activist, was found not-guilty of misconduct last March after a trial on charges that she violated the PC(USA)'s constitution by performing weddings for two lesbian couples.
In a 6-1 decision, a Permanent Judicial Commission of Redwoods Presbytery found that Spahr of San Rafael, CA, acted within her rights as an ordained minister when she married the couples in 2004 and 2005.
The presbytery has appealed that decision to the PJC of the Synod of the Pacific. No hearing date on the appeal has been set.
"Those of us who have officiated at marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples have remained faithful to the essence of marriage in the church, which is rooted, above all, in Jesus' essential message of love," said Spahr, who attended Edwards' trial.
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