c. 2008 Religion News Service

Presbyterian minister cleared in gay wedding case

(RNS) A Presbyterian court in Pittsburgh ruled Thursday (Oct. 2) that a minister did not violate Scripture or church law by wedding two lesbians because the ceremony was not a marriage under church or state law.

The Presbyterian Church (USA) permits ministers to preside over same-sex unions as long as they are not purported to be marriages.

The Rev. Janet Edwards of Pittsburgh did not perform a marriage when she wed a lesbian couple in 2005 because Pennsylvania and the PCUSA define marriage as heterosexual unions, ruled the Permanent Judicial Commission of the Pittsburgh Presbytery.

“Whatever ceremony the accused presided over,” the nine-member commission said in an unanimous ruling, “it was not, and could not have been, a marriage ceremony.”

The court also said that there is “no evidence” that Edwards presented herself as a Presbyterian minister when she performed the wedding.

In April, the PCUSA’s highest court issued a similar ruling in a different case, finding that, by the church’s definition, a same-sex union can never be a marriage.

Over the course of the two-day trial, prosecutors presented eight scriptural passages to support the charge that Edwards violated Scripture. But they failed to prove Edwards’ actions were violations, the court said.

Edwards and the couple she wed have maintained that the 2005 ceremony was indeed a marriage.

“I think (the court) struggled to find a way to hold those who disagree in my church together,” said Edwards, “and I’m grateful to them for that.”

Edwards, who is a direct descendant of the fiery Puritan preacher Jonathan Edwards, also said she will continue to celebrate such ceremonies.

“I was acquitted and that says that I did not offend the Scriptures or the constitution of my church,” she said. “It gives me the freedom of conscience to engage in my calling of reconciliation and responding pastorally to all couples who come to me.”

_ Daniel Burke

Second couple indicted in faith-healing death of child

OREGON CITY, Ore. (RNS) A couple who tried to heal their gravely ill son with prayer surrendered to authorities on Thursday (Oct. 2), a day after they were indicted by a grand jury on charges of criminally negligent homicide.

The couple, Jeffrey Dean Beagley, 50, and Marci Rae Beagley, 46, could not be reached for comment.

Their son, 16-year-old Neil Jeffrey Beagley, died June 17 of complications from a urinary-tract blockage. A deputy state medical examiner said the boy apparently suffered for years from the intensely painful but medically treatable condition. The blockage ultimately caused kidney failure, uremic poisoning and heart failure, according to autopsy results.

When the teen died at his grandmother’s home, he was surrounded by dozens of relatives and church members of the Followers of Christ. Some of those present told police that Neil Beagley, despite his prolonged suffering, chose faith healing over medical care.

Beagley’s death came less than four months after his 15-month-old niece, Ava Worthington, died in similar circumstances from treatable bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection that could have been cleared up with antibiotics.

Her parents, Carl and Raylene Worthington, go to trial Jan. 26 on charges of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment.

If the Beagley case goes to trial, it is likely to draw national attention, said Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor and author of the book “God vs. the Gavel,” which explores conflicts between society and the laws intended to protect religious freedoms.

“Increasingly, prosecutors and grand juries are becoming less willing to turn a blind eye to child suffering or death when it is religiously motivated,” said Hamilton, who teaches at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. “We are in the midst of a coming civil rights movement for children. The willingness to prosecute for the death of a child in a religious circumstance is part and parcel of that.”

Under a state law passed in 1971, children 15 and older have the right to seek medical care independent of their parents. While not expressly stated in state statutes, some legal experts believe the right to seek medical care also grants the right to refuse medical care.

In 1999, after a series of faith-healing deaths involving the Followers of Christ, legislators eliminated Oregon’s “spiritual-healing defense” in certain cases of manslaughter and criminal mistreatment.

Prosecutors will have to prove that reasonable medical care was withheld, and the defense may have to show that Neil Beagley made an independent decision to forgo medical treatment, said Jenny Cooke, an Oregon City defense attorney who has handled numerous homicide cases.

_ Steve Mayes

Quote of the Day: The Rev. Collin Green of Somerville, Mass.

(RNS) “The memories are there, but the people will see this is a transformation.”

_ The Rev. Collin Green, who relocated his Somerville (Mass.) Church of God to a garage that was once a hangout for infamous mobsters James “Whitey” Bulger and Stephen “The Rifleman” Flemmi. He was quoted by The Boston Globe.

KRE/LF END RNS