BLOOMINGTON, Minn., March 1 (UPI) -- A Presbyterian judicial commission in Minnesota has ruled a minister did not violate church canons by marrying his gay partner in California.
The panel of three ministers and three church elders of the Presbyterian Church USA split 3-3 Monday on the Rev. Erwin Barron, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. Those seeking to convict Barron, which could have led to his dismissal from the ministry, needed at least four votes to prevail.
The trial was held in a community room at the Oak Grove Church in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington.
Barron was associate pastor at Westminster Presbyterian Church in Minneapolis before moving to California in 1998 to go to graduate school. He remained there to teach college and married Ronald Abellano in 2008, during the brief period when same-sex marriage was legal in California.
The complaint was made in Minnesota because his ministerial credentials are held there.
The Rev. Neil Craigan, who leads a congregation in the St. Paul suburb of White Bear Lake, headed the prosecuting group.
"I think there is a high probability that we will appeal to get more clarity on the issues that we face as a denomination," Craigan said. "We've never had a trial of this kind before". UPI
