Presbyterian Church Renews Attack Against Gay Wedding Minister

Officials of the Presbyterian church are pursuing new charges against a minister for her role in a 2005 wedding celebration for two women.

The Advocate reported in an online article that Rev. Janet Edwards married a lesbian couple, Brenda Cole and Nancy McConn, in the summer of 2005.

The new charges are the latest in a series of disciplinary attacks by anti-gay church hard-liners against Rev. Edwards, who is based in Pittsburgh.

An online story published in March of last year by the Presbyterian News Service recounted the origin of the multiple attacks against Rev. Edwards. Initially, a complaint against Rev. Edwards based on the blessing of the same-sex wedding was lodged by Rev. James C. Yearsley, who at the time was also serving as a minister in Pittsburgh, but who subsequently was reassigned to Florida.

An investigatory committee subsequently filed charges against Rev. Edwards, but Pittsburgh Presbytery's Permanent Judicial Commission found that the committee's charges were brought after the deadline for doing so had passed. The charges against Edwards were then dropped.

But Yearsley was not done yet. Together with signatories from Pennsylvanian and four other states, Yearsley and thirteen other "co-accusers" sought in 2007 to bring renewed charges against Rev. Edwards for what they called "willful and deliberate defiance" of her vows, and for acting against the church's constitution, which specifies that marriage may only be granted to mixed-gender couples.

However, as reported by the Associate Press in 2006, ministers to have latitude to bless other "holy unions," The Advocate article noted.

At the time, Yearsley said that the 2007 charges were brought because he felt that "the church and Ms. Edwards never had their day in court" following his original complaint in 2005.

Yearsley and his 13 co-accusers retained the services of California attorney Paul Rolf Jensen, who the Presbyterian News Service item said had filed dozens of complaints all around the country similar to the one brought against Rev. Edwards.

The Presbyterian News Service quoted the lawyer as saying, "What our denomination desperately needs right now are people contending for the faith."

Added the lawyer, "To ignore Rev. Edwards' gross misconduct and heretical behavior would be to turn a blind eye to the cancer that inflicts our denomination."

The co-accusers claimed that Rev. Edwards' officiating at the two women's wedding was "heretical and apostate" and "contrary to the Word of God" because the service included an "express[ion] of Buddhist doctrine [that was] anathema to the Christian faith."

At the time, Rev. Edwards sought to defend herself through public statements, which the co-accusers said "assaulted the peace, unity and purity of the church" and characterized as "defiance, apostasy and intent to continue such behavior."

Said Rev. Edwards at the time, "As this renewed disciplinary process unfolds my focus will be upon reconciling prayer, trusting completely that God's love can bring healing and reconciliation to us all in the [American branch of the Presbyterian church], and that what will happen will help to spread the gospel."

Attorney Jensen dismissed Rev. Edwards' statement, saying that "the gospel of Jesus Christ is being distorted and perverted by Rev. Edwards and her supporters," reported The Presbyterian News Service.

The investigating committee of the Pittsburgh presbytery's permanent judicial commission has decided to pursue the new charges, leading Rev. Edwards to defend her action in presiding over the wedding, as she has done in the past.

The Advocate reported that in a Feb. 26 statement, Rev. Edwards said, "I believe with my whole heart that my decision to perform Nancy and Brenda's wedding was faithful to my pastoral call."

Continued Rev. Edwards, "I spent many months in prayer and met with Nancy and Brenda numerous times before concluding that it falls within the Presbyterian tradition of reform to extend the blessings of marriage to all couples who show deep love and commitment for one another within the context of their faith in God."

The Advocate article also said that Edwards had met with a number of ministers within the faith who had initially been opposed to unions between couples of the same gender, but who had since changed their minds and become supporters of marriage equality.

Rev. Edwards also made reference to the Presbyterian Book of Order, in which instruction is given to members of the church to "give full expression to the rich diversity within its membership."

Rev. Edwards interpreted that passage as being inclusive of same-gender committed couples.

Stated Rev. Edwards, "As a Presbyterian, I belong to a tradition of reform in which change is both possible and necessary in Christian life," reported The Advocate.

Added Rev. Edwards, "In that centuries-old tradition, difference and dialogue are welcomed."

Rev. Edwards continued, "I am also called to the ministry of reconciliation that Christ entrusted to us. It is in this spirit of reconciliation and reform that I work to reconcile my church with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender faithful who have been shunned by our spiritual community, even as their lives testify to their love for God and neighbor."

If her case goes to church trial and she is convicted on the charges brought against her, Rev. Edwards could possibly face reprisals that include losing her status as an ordained minister.