Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Lesbian minister ruled unfit leader Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 11:28:29 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD Lesbian minister ruled unfit leader \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT ROCHESTER, N.Y. ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - A lesbian minister will not be allowed to lead a Presbyterian congregation in the city, the church's highest court ruled yesterday. The Rev. Jane Spahr's appointment as pastor of the church was improper because she is "a self-affirmed, practicing homosexual," said the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The commision said it was upholding denominational policy, but a minister at the Rochester congregation said she was "deeply saddened." "I think there are people who will leave the Presbyterian church over this, because they no longer wish to be hurt or abused over the way God created them," said the Rev. Rosemary Mitchell, wiping away tears as she spoke at a news conference. Of the major Christian denominations, only the United Church of Christ officially allows ordination of homosexuals. Miss Spahr, who works at a special ministry serving homosexuals and people with AIDS in San Anselmo, Calif., said she will remain at the special ministry and continue working to change the church's policy toward homosexuals. "I believe my sexuality is a gift from God," Miss Spahr said in a telephone interview. "For any institution to encourage that a person lie, or that a person cannot say or be who they are, I am deeply troubled by the decision." Miss Spahr was chosen by the Downtown United Presbyterian Church in November 1991, but the appointment was challenged by 10 churches in the upstate New York presbytery that includes Rochester. Both the presbytery and a regional judicial commission upheld Miss Spahr's selection, leading to last week's appeal to the national judicial commission in Irving, Texas. Miss Spahr was barred from assuming her duties while appeals were heard. "We did not do this as an anti-gay kind of thing," said the Rev. Ronald Sallade, who led the opposition. "The Presbyterian Church's policy has been very clear, that unrepentant homosexual practice is a sin." Yesterday's ruling referred to a 1978 policy statement in which the church's General Assembly said homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian faith and life." "A presbytery is not free to exercise its own judgment contrary to our constitutional standards . . . without jeopardizing the entire fabric of our Presbyterian system," the commission said. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM