Conservative Presbyterians Call against Acquittal of Gay 'Marriage' Blesser
Friday, Mar. 17, 2006 Posted: 3:22:10PM EST

Conservative Presbyterians are seeking an appeal of a controversial church ruling that acquitted a minister on charges that she violated denominational law when she wed two same-sex couples.
The decision by the California Redwoods Presbytery Permanent Judicial Commission is “schismatic and a threat to the very fabric of our constitutional connection,” the Presbyterian Forum said in a statement this week.

The Redwoods Presbytery in early March ruled that the Rev. Jane Adams Spahr committed no offense and acted “within her right of conscience” when she blessed the “marriages” of gay and lesbian couples in 2004 and 2005.

Dozens of renewal groups within the denomination immediately criticized the decision, calling it contradictory to the church’s Book of Order, which defines marriage as a gift of God and a covenant between a woman and a man. The rest