United Methodists try Pa. pastor over gay marriage

[Cincinnatus]

A United Methodist minister who officiated at his son's same-sex wedding pleaded not guilty Monday to charges that he broke his pastoral vows.

The Rev. Frank Schaefer of Lebanon entered his plea at the beginning of a high-profile church trial in southeastern Pennsylvania that is rekindling debate over the denomination's policy on gay marriage.

Schaefer could face punishment ranging from a reprimand to losing his minister's credentials if a jury composed of fellow Methodist clergy convicts him of breaking church law that bans clergy from performing same-sex weddings.

The church's attorney, the Rev. Christopher Fisher, told the 13-member jury in his opening statement that Schaefer clearly violated the Methodist Book of Discipline by presiding over the 2007 ceremony in Massachusetts. He said the complainant — a member of Schaefer's congregation — was dismayed and shocked when he learned of the ceremony earlier this year.

Schaefer blessed a union that has been "declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teaching," said Fisher, echoing the language of the Methodists' book of law and doctrine.

Schaefer's attorney, the Rev. Robert Coombe, told the jury that Schaefer had simply extended God's love to his son.

"It's important to him to practice in his family what he preached to his congregation," Coombe said. "He did this wedding as an act of love and not as an act of rebellion."

http://www.charter.net/news/read/category/Top%20News/article/ap-pa_pastor_facing_church_trial_over_gay_m-ap-2

[EC]

Lebanon Daily News are live blogging it: http://www.ldnews.com/local/ci_24544249/live-blog-lebanon-pastor-frank-schaefer-facing-church

[jmyrlefuller]

Wow, the UMC is actually making a stand. With all the social justice stuff that place has been pushing lately I am very surprised.

First off, having one's own mother or father administer a legally binding vow of marriage is kind of sketchy in itself, given the power of parental pressure.

Second, admonishment in the name of the Lord is love. Love is not always granting every wish, especially ones that give into sin... and before people start bellyaching about "love," same-sex attraction and opposite-sex attraction are not equivalent. Even the pride groups know it (see the joke "asking who's the man in a lesbian couple is like asking which chopstick is the fork"), except when they want to force the SSM agenda. While, thanks to Anthony Kennedy and his ilk on the Supreme Court, we are no longer able to outlaw the dangerous act of sodomy, it is still a sin, and allowing two men to marry is enabling it. (Why is it dangerous? Disease, mainly-- the act of sodomy injects bodily fluids into the intestines and breaks blood vessels.) I know most fathers are eager to see their son marry and be happy, but to settle for a same-sex abomination is a perversion of God's love.

[mountaineer]

I'm shocked the UMC is standing for anything remotely biblical (just as I would with my own denomination, the PCUSA).

[truth_seeker]

When I was an adolescent, our married pastor ran off with my father's married secretary.

These damn churches have been full of sinners, for the longest time.



 

[mountaineer]

Churches have been full of sinners since day one. We're all sinners.

[kevindavis007]

Churches have been full of sinners since day one. We're all sinners.

Exactly..

[EC]

Found guilty.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/methodist-pastor-goes-to-church-trial-for-marrying-his-gay-son/2013/11/18/de86d75a-501a-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html

 By the end of the day, the rare jury of 13 Methodist pastors had found Schaefer guilty on two charges: “conducting a ceremony that celebrates same-sex unions” and “disobedience to order and discipline of the Methodist Church.” On Tuesday morning, the jury reconvened to devise Schaefer’s penalty for agreeing in 2006 to marry his son Tim, who earlier had contemplated suicide over his homosexuality.

Methodist pastor found guilty at church trial of officiating son’s gay wedding: Divisions echo the struggles of the rest of mainline Protestantism over same-sex marriage.

The penalty in past, similar cases has ranged from a short suspension to defrocking.

In a nation where places of worship tend increasingly to line up on one side or the other on hot-button issues, something beyond Schaefer himself seemed to be on trial: the possibility of a spiritual middle ground.

Schaefer and other members of Zion United Methodist Church, in the small eastern Pennsylvania town of Lebanon, had largely tried to avoid the divisive topic of sexuality and focus on God. Now, the issue is unavoidable.

[Cincinnatus]

SPRING CITY, Pa. (AP) — A United Methodist minister convicted under church law of officiating at his son's same-sex wedding was suspended for 30 days on Tuesday but remained defiant, saying he refuses to change his views, even if it means permanently losing his credentials.

The same jury of fellow pastors that convicted Rev. Frank Schaefer on Monday of breaking his vows also told him he must surrender his credentials if he can't reconcile his new calling to the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community with the laws from the church's Book of Discipline.

Schaefer told reporters afterward that he had no intention of changing his mind and said he expects to lose his credentials in 30 days.

Before the punishment was announced, Schaefer, who was convicted for officiating at his son's 2007 wedding ceremony in Massachusetts, told the jury that he is unrepentant and refused to promise he wouldn't perform more gay unions.

Rather than beg for mercy, the pastor upped the stakes.

The church "needs to stop judging people based on their sexual orientation," he told jurors. "We have to stop the hate speech. We have to stop treating them as second-class Christians."

After the jury pronounced its sentence, Schaefer's supporters began overturning chairs in the courtroom — symbolizing the biblical story of Jesus overturning the tables of the money changers — and held an impromptu communion service.

http://www.charter.net/news/read/category/Top%20News/article/ap-pastor_who_performed_gay_wedding_to_lear-ap

[mountaineer]

If he doesn't want to adhere to the rules of that denomination, there are plenty of other (apostate) ones that would welcome him.