Lesbian couple reportedly wed at PCUSA seminary
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, October 9, 2006
Two prominent lesbian activists were reportedly “married” Saturday afternoon during a service performed in Caldwell Chapel of Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
Dean K. Thompson, president of the seminary, told The Layman Online on Monday that he did not know whether the couple were actually married or whether it was a “union” service, but that, in either event, the seminary forbids discrimination that would limit the use of the chapel.
“I do know that a same-sex union service was requested,” Thompson said. “We did not sanction the service. That’s the responsibility of the denominations and the officiants.”
The Layman Online was unable to reach the participants in the “wedding” or “union” service, which was conducted the same day the seminary hosted an all-day retreat for people interested in effective youth ministry.
The service was performed by Cindy J. Weber, pastor of Jeff Street Community Baptist Church in Louisville, a congregation “where all God’s children are welcome: gay, straight, black, brown, white, poor and not-so-poor.”
Cindy Guertin, left, with Carmanita Pimms in photo published by Presbyterian Peace Program with Guertin’s column about a summer mission. She officiated at a service for Cindy Guertin, a student at the seminary who is expected to get a master of arts degree in marriage and family therapy in December, and Natalie Reteneller, who is director of the Louisville Youth Group, an organization that focuses on the rights of homosexual youth.
Guertin and Reteneller are well known for their gay rights activism in Louisville and by denominational employees at the city’s Presbyterian Center, the headquarters for the Presbyterian Church (USA).
A PCUSA agency, the Presbyterian Peace Program, featured Guertin’s column about her time at The Campbell Farm in Yakima, Wash., during a summer mission program.
She is a member of the staff of Metropolitan Community Church in Louisville. MCC congregations are comprised mostly of homosexuals.
In an announcement about her appointment, the Louisville congregation said she would be “focusing on community organizing in religious communities and with other justice-seeking ally organizations. … We need to organize, so that our voice is heard too! Combating faith-based, anti-LGBTQ messages is an essential task of working for fairness in both social and political arenas.” LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
In October 2005, Guertin led a workshop at a regional conference sponsored by More Light Presbyterians, a group that exists to promote same-sex marriages and the ordination of practicing homosexuals.
Reteneller was listed as one of the planners for a Conference for the People’s Agenda in Louisville. The theme of the conference was to promote a sweeping liberal political movement in the city.
In an interview published in today’s Louisville Courier-Journal, Reteneller was quoted as saying that the Louisville Youth Group draws participants from several Kentucky counties and southern Indiana. “The group holds youth-led meetings organized around a topic, such as telling parents about their sexuality, and focuses on self-esteem through issues such as suicide prevention, drug and alcohol-abuse prevention and safe sex.”
Asked whether there was a disconnect between the PCUSA’s constitutional policy that recognizes only marriage between a man and a women and the seminary’s permission to use its chapel for a homosexual wedding, Thompson said yes: the nondiscrimination policy.
“Our major constituent groups have mixed feelings regarding these matters,” he said, “but we will not discriminate for the facilities usage.” Neither, he added, “will we sanction these services.”
Thompson was asked whether he personally supports marriage of homosexual couples. “I am personally not prepared to conduct these services,” he replied, repeating his summary of the nondiscrimination policy.