Why I Stand With Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe In Support Of Marriage Equality

In our ordination vows, officers in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are asked both to “show the love and justice of Jesus Christ” and to “be governed by our church’s polity.” Occasionally, these two vows come into conflict. In regard to same-sex marriage, the conflict is not between church and state but between competing values within the church itself.

Such was the case with my friend and colleague in ministry the Rev. Tara Spuhler McCabe, who recently concluded 12 years as associate pastor at New York Avenue Presbyterian Church in Washington. Tara was nominated in the spring to be vice moderator of the General Assembly, the second-highest non-paid elected office in the Presbyterian Church. Just before the assembly met last week in Pittsburgh, it was revealed that Tara had served as officiant at the wedding of a same-sex couple. While legal in the District of Columbia, same-sex weddings are prohibited by our church’s polity.

Read the whole story at the Washington Post
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Image Flickr stephen weir