Article published May 04, 2004
Minister wins appeal on same-sex weddings
Presbyterian panel says gay unions not forbidden
By DAVID YONKE
BLADE RELIGION EDITOR
A Cincinnati Presbyterian minister who was disciplined for performing same-sex marriages won a key argument in his appeal to a higher church court, which ruled yesterday that its constitution does not clearly forbid such ceremonies.
The Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken had been rebuked by a Cincinnati church panel in April, 2003, which said presiding over same-sex marriages violated the denomination's Book of Order, or constitution.
But in his appeal to the Synod of the Covenant, which presides over Ohio and Michigan, the regional body's judicial commission yesterday sided with Mr. Van Kuiken's argument that presiding over same-sex ceremonies is not expressly prohibited by the Book of Order.
The 2.5 million-member Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is facing the same internal struggles over homosexuality that have been affecting other mainline Protestant denominations such as the Episcopalians and United Methodists.
The 10-member Presbyterian panel, which heard arguments Thursday at the Synod of the Covenant headquarters in Maumee, based much of yesterday's ruling on semantics. While the Book of Order states that same-sex marriages are "impermissible," for example, the wording refers to whether ministers "should" or "should not" perform such ceremonies rather than "must" or "must not."
The panel also referred to an earlier Presbyterian judicial ruling that said presiding over such ceremonies "would not be proper."These interpretations "fail to define the performance of a same-sex marriage by a minister as an offense subject to disciplinary trial," the synod panel ruled yesterday.
Four panelists dissented, saying that the majority opinion amounts to "an improper and unjustified attempt to rewrite the clear and unambiguous" section of the constitution that says "a marriage exists between a man and a woman."
The judicial panel ruled against a second point in Mr. Van Kuiken's appeal that said he has a right under the constitution "to follow his conscience" in performing same-sex weddings.
"While the Book of Order affirms freedom of conscience, it also affirms that there are bounds to that freedom," the ruling said.
The constitution prohibits ministers from "departing from the essentials" of the faith, and the panel said such "essentials" should be defined by the governing body, not individual ministers.
The synod panel rejected a third argument by Mr. Van Kuiken, that the church is "selective and discriminatory" in enforcing its laws. Such logic, the panel said, "would be tantamount to an argument that the prosecution of speeders is selective and discriminatory" because not every speeder is apprehended.
The Rev. George Baird, stated clerk of the Synod of the Covenant, said the ruling applies only to Mr. Van Kuiken's specific case, but that both parties have the right to appeal to the national General Assembly. If it is appealed, a ruling by the national governing body could set the tone for the rest of the denomination, observers say.
Contact David Yonke at:
dyonke@theblade.com
or 419-724-6154.
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