Californian accused of 'marrying' a lesbian, then 'marrying' two lesbians

by Alexa Smith, Presbyterian News Service

LOUISVILLE -- March 15, 2004 [posted here on 3-16-04] -- Another disciplinary case has been filed against an openly gay woman minister -- this time for having officiated at a civil ceremony in San Francisco last month featuring an exchange of vows between two lesbians.

The Rev. Ann L. Petker of Berkeley, CA, is accused of being wed to her lesbian partner one day in mid-February, then conducting a "marriage" service for a lesbian couple the next day.

Photographs of the ceremony at at the San Francisco civic center were published on the Web site of the gay advocacy group, That All May Freely Serve, under the byline of Jennifer G. Shepherd, news editor. In it, Anne Towler says Petker had "married" Towler and her partner, Virginia Thibeaux, a former classmate of Petker's at San Francisco Theological Seminary.

Petker was not quoted in the story, which was headlined, "Novato couple's historic wedding."

The story recounts that Petker "married" her own partner the previous day, then returning to the center to officiate at the Towler-Thibeaux ceremony.

On Friday, March 12, the Los Angeles-based Presbytery of the Pacific was trying to determine whether Petker is still a pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA). The presbytery's stated clerk, the Rev. Frank Marshall, said Petker had started the process of transferring to the United Church of Christ, a denomination that allows the ordination of sexually active gays and lesbians, unlike the PC(USA).

If the transfer has been made, the case would be moot.

In the UCC, according to Barbara Powell, the denomination's public information officer, the terms "union," "commitment service" and "marriage" are interchangeable.

Efforts to reach Petker were unsuccessful.

The UCC's Northern California Conference told the Presbyterian News Service (PNS) that Petker is seeking "privilege of call," meaning she would have the right to seek a call in UCC churches.

Officials said there was nothing in the conference records to indicate that Petker is not still a PC(USA) pastor.

While the PC(USA) has consistently supported civil rights for same-sex partners, it does not endorse homosexual conjugal practice as "marriage." A 2002 judicial case, Benton vs. the Presbytery of Hudson River, held that Presbyterian clergy can perform same-sex unions, but must clearly distinguish such blessing ceremonies from Christian marriage, which is reserved for a man and woman.

Four accusations have been filed against Petker by attorney Paul Rolf Jensen, a controversial member of a Presbyterian congregation in California who has filed more than 20 cases against Presbyterian ministers and elders in the past two years, charging them with violating their ordination vows by ordaining or marrying gays and lesbians.

When a disciplinary case is filed, a presbytery is required to form a committee to investigate the allegations.

Only one of the four cases resulted in a revocation of ordination -- that of the Rev. Stephen Van Kuiken of Cincinnati, OH -- and that was overturned on a procedural technicality. The Presbytery of Cincinnati is investigating a second accusation filed against Van Kuiken by Jensen.

Jensen accuses Petker of:

· Willfully and deliberately violating her ordination vows and disrupting the peace, unity and purity of the church;

· Performing a "marriage" ceremony of a same-sex couple;

· Renouncing the jurisdiction of the PC(USA) by refusing to comply with its constitution and with prior decisions of the church's highest court;

· Practicing the sin of homosexuality without repentance.

Jensen argues that, by being "married" in an "illegal civil ceremony" and then performing what is termed a "marriage ceremony," Petker has "crossed the line of acceptable advocacy."

"She has no right to disregard her solemn vow to obey the constitution of the Presbyterian Church," he says.

Jensen made his previous allegations against Petker in 2002. They were dismissed by the presbytery's investigating committee for lack of evidence.

Jensen accused Petker of deliberating violating her ordination vows and renouncing the jurisdiction of the PC(USA) by defying the church's constitution through "practicing without repentance the sin of homosexuality."

But sexual practice is a difficult thing to prove, as Jensen and Marshall agree.

In the 2002 Benton decision, the General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission was unambiguous in its ruling that Christian marriage is between a man and a woman only. While it gives latitude to ministers and sessions in addressing the pastoral care of members, it says it "would not be proper" for a PC(USA) pastor to perform a same-sex union that "the minister determines to be the same as a marriage ceremony."

The PJC also instructed sessions to prohibit the use of church facilities for same-gender services that may be construed as the same as a marriage ceremony.

The court also ruled that ministers conducting same-sex may not use liturgical forms from services of Christian or civil marriage in the conduct of same-gender ceremonies. "Ministers and sessions should take special care to avoid any confusion of such services with services of Christian marriage," it said.

Most of Jensen's cases have been dismissed on technicalities, but Jensen said he feels confident that the Presbytery of the Pacific will "investigate and reach the right decision" -- assuming that Petker is a PC(USA) minister.

Referring to the exchange of vows, he said, "There is no lack of evidence this time."