Retired minister facing church trial for performing same-sex unions

A retired Presbyterian minister faces prosecution by her own church — for the second time in four years — for officiating the marriages of same-sex couples.

The Rev. Jane Spahr, 67, presided over 16 other same-sex unions during the five-month period in 2008 when same-sex marriage was legal in California.

The Presbyterian church asserts that while the marriages may have been legal under state law, they were “expressly prohibited” by the church.

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The constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) defines marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman. The church’s Supreme Judicial Council has ruled that ministers can bless same-sex unions as long as the ceremonies are not called a marriage and don’t mimic traditional weddings.

Spahr was previously acquitted by the church’s highest tribunal in 2008, capping a two-year disciplinary case.

“This is what we are called to do,” Spahr said, asserting, as she did before, that she conducted the marriages as a “matter of conscience.”

Spahr, a lesbian who lives in San Francisco, used to lead a ministry for gay Presbyterians until she retired in 2007.