PCUSA statement says no same-sex marriages permitted
By John H. Adams, The Layman Online, Posted Friday, May 21, 2004
The Office of the General Assembly (OGA) has released a statement saying a synod court’s ruling in favor of same-sex marriages is neither an authoritative interpretation for the Presbyterian Church (USA) nor binding on the whole denomination.
It is still “‘not proper for a minister to perform a same-sex union ceremony that the minister determines to be the same as a marriage ceremony. Similarly, a session should not allow the use of church facilities for such a ceremony,'” the May 20 statement said, quoting from the OGA’s Advisory Opinion #7.
The Covenant of the Synod Permanent Judicial Commission ruled on April 30 that the denomination’s constitution, the General Assembly’s authoritative interpretations and the rulings of its highest court, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission, do not categorically prohibit ministers from conducting marriage services for homosexual couples.
But OGA’s unsigned statement said, “A particular decision of a synod’s permanent judicial commission does not become an authoritative interpretation for or binding on the whole church. Authoritative interpretations can be made only by the General Assembly itself or by the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission.”
Before OGA issued its statement, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission dismissed an appeal filed by the Presbytery of Cincinnati, which was seeking to overturn the ruling by the Synod of the Covenant. A number of advocates for homosexual marriages declared the synod court’s ruling a precedent that now permitted ministers to conduct those services.
Laurie Griffith, judicial process manager for the Office of the General Assembly, said the court dismissed the case because A. Stephen Van Kuiken, former minister of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church (USA), was no longer a Presbyterian minister.
The presbytery’s appeal sought to restore its decision to remove Van Kuiken from the presbytery’s membership and declared that he had renounced the jurisdiction of the PCUSA for repeatedly conducting same-sex marriages.
But Griffith said that point was moot since Van Kuiken had voluntarily relinquished his ordination in the PCUSA. He now is pastor of an independent congregation of people who left Mount Auburn.
As a result of the synod court’s decision and the dismissal of the appeal, the OGA said it had received questions about the denomination’s position on the issue of marriage and same-sex blessings. To answer those questions, it turned to Advisory Opinion #7, which was written by the OGA after the General Assembly issued a ruling in Benton v. Hudson River Presbytery.
The Benton decision stated that same-sex marriages violated the denomination’s constitution. While the court did permit pastors, with the approval of sessions, to conduct services to bless same-gender couples, it pointedly said the services could not resemble in any way a marriage ceremony and that they could not sanction homosexual behavior.
Advisory Opinion #7, titled “Ceremonies Blessing Same-Sex Relationships,” interpreted the Benton ruling to mean that Presbyterian ministers:
- “… may not utilize liturgies for Christian marriage or the recognition of civil marriage in ceremonies for same sex couples.”
- “… may not perform a ceremony that they consider to be the same as a marriage ceremony nor may they permit their facilities to be utilized for any such ceremony.”
- “… may provide pastoral care in the form of worship services that ‘celebrate a loving, caring, and committed relationship’ for same sex couples (Benton), but must also advise such couples that such a service does not constitute a marriage and may not be held out as such.”
The last paragraph of Advisory Opinion #7 was a quote from Benton: “Such a same-sex ceremony does not bless any specific act, and this decision should not be construed as an endorsement of homosexual conjugal practice proscribed by the General Assembly.”