A retired Presbyterian Church (PC) (U.S.A.) minister is on trial again this week in the denomination's courts for violating the group's constitution by performing sixteen same-sex weddings in California in 2008.

The trial, which began on Tuesday, marks the third time the Rev. Jane Spahr has gone through the PC(U.S.A.)'s courts and the second time she has been tried for officiating same-sex marriages, which prosecutors say goes against the denomination's laws which say that marriage is between a man and a woman.

Spahr, 68 and an open lesbian, was acquitted in 2008 by PC(U.S.A.)'s high court, who said the ceremony in question, which was performed prior to California's legalization of same-sex marriages, was not a real wedding.

Just two months later, however, same-sex marriages became legal in California and Spahr proceeded to wed numerous couples.

"As a matter of my conscience…I cannot be a part of...people being seen as second class or less than. I have seen the violence it has done," said Spahr, who lives in San Francisco, to the Los Angeles Times.

Ordained by PC(U.S.A.) in 1974, Spahr came out in 1978 and has been an advocate for gay rights for years.

In 1991, Spahr was offered a position to co-pastor a church in Rochester, N.Y. but was rejected by a court ruling after neighboring churches filed complaints.

The Rochester church hired Spahr as an evangelist instead and began a new national outreach ministry called That All May Freely Serve.

Spahr is also the founder of the Spectrum Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Center, which serves Marin and Sonoma Counties in northern California.

Spahr is a notable figure amidst the PC(U.S.A)'s struggle over issues related to homosexuality which has been going on for decades.

In July, PC(U.S.A.)'s General Assembly (GA) voted to change the church's statute that clergy must "live either in fidelity within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman, or chastity in singleness" to one that would allow partnered gay clergy to serve.

The vote marked the fourth time since 1997 that a PC(U.S.A.) General Assembly approved the modification, although each preceding time the denomination's presbyteries shot down the measure.

At the same GA gathering, delegates voted against changing the group's definition of marriage, and instead recommended that church members continue to study about the issue.

Assembly Moderator Cindy Bolbach said that the vote reflects that "the church was not yet ready to make a decision," and that "this kind of thing happens at every assembly."

The next PC(U.S.A) General Assembly will be in 2012.