Rebuked pastor plans more same-sex rites

Christian Century, May 17, 2003

A Presbyterian court has found a Cincinnati minister guilty of presiding at weddings for same-sex couples but declined to suspend or remove him from his pulpit. Stephen Van Kuiken was formally "rebuked" for presiding at gay weddings but was acquitted of a charge that he broke church law by ordaining noncelibate gays and lesbians as pastors and elders. Van Kuiken acknowledged both acts.

Van Kuiken, pastor of Mount Auburn Presbyterian Church, said he will appeal his guilty verdict to a regional court. He said he would continue to marry gay couples and ordain openly gay church officers.

"I just have to be true to myself, and that's the best I can do," he told reporters after the verdict was released April 21. "Our congregation has always felt that these ceremonies are marriages in every way.... Gay people are equal." The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) allows same-sex unions as long as they are not equated with marriage. "If you perform services of holy union, you are directed to take special care to avoid any confusion of such services with Christian marriage," the seven-member court said in its ruling.

The denomination also prohibits ordaining actively gay pastors and elders. Van Kuiken was cleared of the charge on a technicality, because church law says congregations, not their pastors, hold the power of ordination. The court ruled that Van Kuiken could not be held guilty for presiding at the ordinations.

Both sides of the controversy agree that this will probably not be Van Kuiken's last court appearance. "The rebuke is a warning to me that next time the penalty will be more severe," he said. A dissenting member of the court, Charles H. Brown III, said, "All of us will be forced to go through this exercise again" because of Van Kuiken's promised defiance.

Pro-gay groups in the church welcomed the court's decision. "The time for postponing justice to wait for the next study committee, the next task force report, the next call to earnestly study the issue, is over," said a joint statement from More Light Presbyterians and That All May Freely Serve. Parker Williamson, head of the conservative Presbyterian Lay Committee, said the case will likely come up at the churchwide General Assembly May 24-31 in Denver. "Now the question before the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is, will it enforce its standards? Will it require compliance?" he said.--RNS