Show of support for pro-gay clergy
Duo hauled before Presbyterian tribunal
ON Monday morning, churchgoers filled the seats at the central office of the Presbyterian church in Parktown, Johannesburg. Their ministers, the Rev Martin “Chunky” Young and Hansie Wolmarans, were both present, but this was no time for a sermon.
Instead, the churchgoers were there to show support for the two clergymen, who face a charge of misconduct for their blessing of same-sex unions in breach of church rules.
The hearing by a Presbyterian church tribunal came just weeks after the Dutch Reformed Church approved same-sex unions, also saying it would now allow gay ministers to be ordained without the need for them to be celibate.
On Thursday, Young said: “It’s amazing that the [Dutch Reformed Church], which was the driving force behind the ideology of apartheid, has come into its own right and opened its doors to gay marriages, and the rest of us are playing catch-up.”
Wolmarans, a professor of theology at the University of Johannesburg, holds a civil union licence, which he obtained before joining St Columba’s as an “honorary” minister.
The duo, who have jointly conducted four such marriages, argue that the church should practise what it preaches.
Presbyterian rules prohibit ministers from registering for a civil union licence, so although Young is not legally allowed to perform such marriages, he is accused of helping Wolmarans to break church rules.
“I would do the legal side of things and Chunky would bless the union,” said Wolmarans.
Now, following a complaint by a Cape Town-based minister, the two men have to answer to the eGoli Presbytery, the provincial ruling body.
The thrust of their argument is that the church’s doctrine is out of sync with South African legislation, which recognises same-sex unions.
“Homosexuality cannot be harmful or a sin. I am of the sincere opinion that if you’re homophobic then that is a sin because you harm people. As far as I am concerned, they are charging the wrong people,” Wolmarans said.
The Rev Armando Sontange, moderator of the Presbytery of eGoli, said he could not comment, pending the outcome of the hearing.
The Rev Lungile Mpetsheni, general secretary of the Uniting Presbyterian Church in Southern Africa — the umbrella body of the church — said: “We cannot comment at this stage, as the HILLS ARE ALIVE: Professor Hansie Wolmarans marries Andrew Kennedy, left, and Pierre le Roux Kennedy matter of the ministers concerned is still at the level of the Presbytery of eGoli.”
The two ministers have heavyweight legal counsel to fight their case: advocates Willem van der Linde SC, and Martin Kriegler SC, son of former Constitutional Court justice Johann Kriegler.
In heads of argument filed at the tribunal, Young and Wolmarans argue that since 2005 the church’s umbrella body has shifted towards encouraging tolerance and that since 2006 it has condemned discrimination based on sexual orientation as “sinful”.
But the body has yet to decide on same-sex marriages, and for now its ministers may not hold a civil union licence under its name.
The duo’s legal counsel argue that the charges are objectionable because they rest on a position unsupported by any rule of the church. And that they are offensive to the church’s own denouncement of discrimination against sexual orientation.
“This court must faithfully observe this rule of the church, find that the charges are premised on such discrimination and dismiss them as such,” they argue in papers.
Young said his church, with 1 500 members, has always been inclusive. When the umbrella body — which has more than 250 congregations and about 80 000 members in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe — convenes for its general assembly next year, it will make a ruling on same-sex unions.
Professor Shadrack Gutto, a constitutional law expert and the head of the Institute for African Renaissance Studies at Unisa, said the constitution was the highest law and any law in contradiction of it was null and void.
“From a religious view, it would have to be interpreted and applied in a way that does not breach any provisions in the constitution, but here we are dealing with the question of administrative action.”
This was a complex case because the constitution also provided for the right to religion. “If the religion has certain rules within it, you either belong or you don’t.
“It’s going to be a very interesting case which is testing the right to religion, the right to fair and just administration and how to balance it,” said Gutto. Comment on this: write to tellus@sundaytimes.co.za or SMS us at 33971 www.sundaytimes.co.za