People

Alvin O. Jackson, a former pastor of National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C., and once moderator of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), who resigned his posts in 2004 amid charges of plagiarism, has been chosen as the new minister of a New York City congregation. Jackson will begin as senior pastor of Park Avenue Christian Church September 17. “At a period in my life when I was overextended, overcommitted, fatigued, burned-out, struggling with depression and a lowering of my self-esteem and self-worth, I used some materials without attribution over a period of several weeks from a colleague here in New York,” Jackson said. Now, he added, “I think that I am a better person, a better preacher, certainly a healthier person because of that experience.”

The lead couple in the lawsuit that led to the nation’s first legalized gay marriages have separated, say news reports. Hillary and Julie Goodridge, whose names were listed first in the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court decision that led to legalized gay marriage in that state in 2004, have amicably separated, said a spokesperson for the couple. They have a ten-year-old daughter. In the court case, the Goodridges and six other same-sex couples sued a state agency over its policy of denying marriage licenses to gay couples. The Massachusetts high court, agreeing in 2003 with the plaintiffs that the policy violated the Massachusetts constitution’s equal-protection provisions, ordered the legislature to remedy the problem.