Raising the stakes
Combative Virginian takes aim at 'defiant' church
officials
[3-30-02]
by Alexa Smith, Presbyterian News Service
LOUISVILLE - March 28, 2002 - A Virginia lawyer has
filed a total of 14 disciplinary complaints in six presbyteries where he
says ministers and elders have publicly defied the constitution of the
Presbyterian Church (USA) by ordaining sexually active gays and lesbians
or conferring church "blessings" on same-sex couples.
The presbyteries are required by the PC(USA)'s rules
of discipline to form investigating committees to look into the
allegations.
Paul Jensen, of Reston, VA, who already had initiated
three cases in two presbyteries, filed 11 additional complaints in four
more presbyteries this week.
In one of the previous cases, Jensen asked the
Presbytery of Baltimore to investigate the ministry of the Rev. Don
Stroud, an openly gay employee of That All May Freely Serve, an
organization working for the ordination of gays and lesbians in the
PC(USA). Baltimore Presbytery appointed an investigating committee in
November.
Jensen also had asked the Presbytery of Cincinnati to
investigate allegations that the Rev. Steve Van Kuiken, the pastor of
Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, and the Rev. Hal Porter, pastor
emeritus, had performed or allowed ordinations of gays and lesbians and
"marriages" of same-sex couples. Mount Auburn is a long-time
More Light, or gay-affirming, congregation.
The Book of Order was amended in 1997 to
forbid the ordination of sexually active singles. By specifying that
Christian marriage is for heterosexuals only, the measure served as a
de facto prohibition of the blessing of same-sex unions in PC(USA)
churches.
Mount Auburn recently notified the stated clerk of the
denomination that it intends to continue to ordain and to marry gays and
lesbians in defiance of the constitution, basing its decision on its
understanding of Scripture and of the Reformed tradition. The stated
clerk, the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick, responded that Mount Auburn's
session is overstepping its authority by trying to ignore provisions of
the Book of Order.
Yesterday Jensen notified the Presbyterian News
Service, the Presbyterian Layman and the Presbyterian
Forum that the 11 new cases might not be the last.
"I do not plan to stop with these
complaints," he said by email, "and I expect to file against
any minister I learn about who publicly announces his decision to defy
the constitution of our church, or who … publicly acts to defy the
constitution."
Jensen has alleged:
· That at
least six PC(USA) pastors in Redwoods Presbytery are guilty of
"willful and deliberate" violations of their ordination vows,
in that they participated in the Oct. 21, 2001, ordination of the Rev.
Katie Morrison, an openly gay woman, at First Presbyterian Church in San
Anselmo, CA.
· That
Morrison intentionally misled or tried to mislead presbytery examiners
and deliberately violated section G-0106.b of the Book of Order
by failing to live within a covenant of heterosexual marriage or
"chastity in singleness."
· That an
elder in San Gabriel Presbytery violated his ordination vows by taking
part in the ordination of his daughter, who is openly lesbian.
· That two
ministers in the Presbytery of Yellowstone signed a session document
stating that their congregation would not comply with the constitutional
provision forbidding ordinations of gays and lesbians.
· That a
clergywoman in the Presbytery of the Pacific violated her ordination
vows by living as an "unrepentant," practicing homosexual.
Jensen asked that jurisdiction in nine of the cases be
shifted - from Yellowstone Presbytery to the Synod of the Rocky
Mountains, and from the Redwoods Presbytery to the Synod of the Pacific.
A hearing in the Morrison case is already scheduled
for May 17 before the Permanent Judicial Commission (PJC) of the Synod
of the Pacific. Morrison's ordination has been challenged by a coalition
of elders and pastors from Redwoods Presbytery, one congregation, and
the Presbytery of San Joaquin.
Jensen has standing to file the cases as a member of
St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA.
According to section D-10.0102 of the Book of
Order, a disciplinary case may be initiated by any "person
under the jurisdiction of a governing body of the Presbyterian Church
(USA)."
The constitution requires that, when "a member of
a governing body receive(s) information from any source that an offense
may have occurred which should be investigated for the purpose of
discipline," it must "refer the statement immediately to an
investigating committee."
"We've not seen anything quite like this
before," said Mark Tammen, the PC(USA)'s director of constitutional
services, referring to the number of presbyteries with whom Jensen has
filed complaints.
Jensen, a trial lawyer, said he may file more
complaints.
"In my lifetime - and I'm 43 - I haven't seen
such outspoken … defiance of the constitution," he said, noting
that he is only holding accountable people who have made their defiance
public.
He said it doesn't matter that he doesn't know many of
those he has accused: "The constitution applies without regard to
personality or affinity."
Jensen said he will pursue the cases at his own
expense.
His actions evoked a mixed response among PC(USA)
conservatives.
The Rev. Parker Williamson, editor in chief of The
Layman, a strident critic of denominational policy who has urged
Kirkpatrick to take action against individuals and congregations that
defy the constitution, said Jensen wouldn't have to file complaints
"if the stated clerk was doing his job."
Williamson said Kirkpatrick "could go into
court," adding: "I suspect if he would do so, we'd see fewer
acts of defiance."
Williamson said that The Presbyterian Lay Committee is
"strongly supportive" of any action against those who defy the
constitution.
The Rev. Bob Davis, director of the Presbyterian
Forum, said he would prefer a more conciliatory process, one reflecting
the conflict-resolution principles outlined in Matthew 18.
Davis said presbyteries ought to seek reconciliation
before taking disciplinary action, based on G-6.0502, another clause in
the Book of Order. "Go counsel with them," he said. "If
they refuse to repent by persisting in a work that is disapproved by a
governing body, then they have broken from the church." He cited a
provision of the Book of Order providing that an officer who
"persists in a work disapproved by a governing body … has
renounced the jurisdiction of this church."
"If people choose to not be part of the
church," he said, "we grieve over that, and we also recognize
the consequences of that. But a disciplinary case sets up an adversarial
process."
The Rev. Sam Roberson, executive of the Cincinnati
Presbytery, said it isn't easy to maintain good relations between
various coalitions in the church or even within the presbytery.
"Mount Auburn is very out-front, and it tends to
publicize what it is going to do," he said. "It has chosen not
to 'go quietly into the night.' But … people think, 'If they're going
to be so vociferous, then we feel like we need to raise the stakes a
bit.' It is not going to go unchallenged."
Roberson said his presbytery doesn't "want to be
a pawn in somebody else's politics or historic battles," and would
like to "move the PC(USA) in more positive directions."
