Complaint charges PCUSA minister in 50 gay marriages
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, September 15, 2004
On April 23, the Rev. Jim Rigby, pastor of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, took part in “blessing” the “marriages” of 50 same-sex couples on the campus of the University of Texas – a violation of church law in the Presbyterian Church (USA).
Jim Rigby says he welcomes trial. “Either they have to strip me of my ordination or the church has to change.”Earlier this week, a 19-year-old University of Texas student and his pastor filed a formal complaint against Rigby’s role in the ceremonies. Rigby’s response was to help them build their case.
Rigby said he wants the presbytery to try him on general charges of ordaining and marrying gays because that will force Presbyterian officials to confront the issue of homosexuality in the church.
“Either they have to strip me of my ordination or the church has to change,” Rigby told the American Statesman of Austin.
Rigby is one of nearly two dozen Presbyterian ministers who have been accused of marrying same-gender couples or participating in the ordination of practicing homosexuals.
Many of those cases have been filed by one Presbyterian, Paul Rolf Jensen, a lawyer who targeted Presbyterian ministers who have publicly stated that they a) are practicing homosexuals, b) have conducted marriages for homosexual couples or c) have participated in the ordination of practicing homosexuals.
Jensen did not pull the trigger in the Rigby case. Jensen said he learned that Rigby had participated in the ordination of a lesbian elder at St. Andrews and was considering filing a complaint. As is his custom, Jensen said he had written Rigby to notify him that he would file a complaint if Rigby did not dispute the information. Jensen said he did not pursue the matter.
But Robert Brown of Carrollton, Texas, a freshman at the University of Texas, read an account of Rigby’s role in the 50 marriages that was published by The Texas Daily, the campus newspaper. Brown decided to file a case on his own. He called Jensen for legal assistance, and Jensen said he agreed to help without a fee. Later, Brown’s pastor, the Rev. William Pharr of Nor’kirk Presbyterian Church in Carrollton, also signed the complaint against Rigby.
The complaint was sent to Mission Presbytery, which is required to have an investigating committee determine whether Rigby should face a disciplinary trial for defying church law. The committee can either call for a trial or dismiss the complaint.
Both Jensen and Brown were complimentary of Rigby – despite their contention that he has renounced his ordination vows by defying church law. They applauded his acknowledgement that he had defied church law and his assistance in providing information upon which their complaint was based.
Jensen said, “I have met with Mr. Rigby, and respect him for having the courage of his convictions. He says he is perfectly willing to lose his ordination over this issue, just like Steve Van Kuiken. Mr. Rigby doesn’t understand that by defying his ordination vows, and by publicly attacking our church’s historic Biblical stand, he is making war upon our church. I intend to stop him. He needs to find another denomination where his views will not cause him to defy his vows.”
Daily Texan photo of Rigby blessing “marriage” of lesbian couple on campus of the University of Texas. In many cases, investigative committees that disagree with PCUSA church law have dismissed complaints, even though the pastors openly defied the law.
Rigby has long championed the ordination of practicing homosexuals in the PCUSA and providing “marriage” services for homosexual couples. Church law requires candidates for deacon, elder and minister to remain chaste if they are single and maintain fidelity in their marriage relationship. The PCUSA does allow pastors to conduct services to “bless” couples who are of the same sex – but clearly prohibits conducting marriages for homosexuals or endorsing homosexual behavior.
The Web site of Rigby’s congregation promotes two of the special-interest groups in the PCUSA – More Light Presbyterians and That All May Freely Serve – that encourage constitutional defiance.
And Rigby, as reported by the Presbyterian News Service, was the main speaker at the banquet sponsored by More Light Presbyterians, That All May Freely Serve and the Shower of Stoles – the so-called “three sisters” in the defiance movement.
In its account of Rigby’s role of the mass wedding, The Daily Texan said the 50 couples were issued “marriage certificates” by the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Ally Affairs Agency at the Weddings for Marriage Equality demonstration. The demonstration was also sponsored by the Lesbian/Gay Rights Lobby of Texas and the Austin Coalition for Marriage Equality.
These certificates affirmed the couples’ “conviction that no couple should be denied the right to marry and, by participating in these Weddings for Marriage Equality, demonstrate their commitment to equality,” the newspaper said.
“We’re not staging this as a Las Vegas-style wedding chapel,” Rigby told the campus newspaper. “We’re talking about faithful relationships. Marriage is not about sexuality or making babies.”