October 1, 2013
Pa. Pastor Faces Methodist Trial For Officiating Gay Son's Wedding
Winnie McCroy READ TIME: 2 MIN.
A Pennsylvania pastor will be forced to stand trial in front of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church for officiating his son's same-sex wedding six years ago. According to the Patriot News, Rev. Frank Schaefer, pastor at Zion United Methodist Church of Iona, married his son Tim and his husband in 2006, which is apparently a violation of the church's law book, the Book Of Discipline.
"The love for my son took over the fear of losing my job with the United Methodist Church," Shaefer told the Lebanon Daily News. "It was a tough decision in some sense, but I just knew I had to make it. I had to follow my heart."
Schaefer's son came out six years before the wedding in 2000, after contemplating suicide as a result of the prospect of being ostracized from his family and faith community if they learned of his sexuality, according to the Patriot. Schaefer officiated the ceremony in Massachusetts, which had previously legalized same-sex marriage in 2004. Regardless, members of his congregation filed a compliant against him -- just 26 days before the statute of limitations would have expired.
"Sadly, our church is once again being led down the path of a costly and divisive trial by a pastor who chose to disregard the prayerful and consistent teaching of our church that Christian marriage is the holy union of one man and one woman," Evangelical United Methodist Rev. Thomas Lambrech told UMC Connections. "As a father, I share Rev. Schaefer's desire to affirm his son, but there are ways of doing so that do not require a pastor to break the Discipline and the covenant that all United Methodist pastors agree to uphold."
Schaefer's trial is slated to begin on Nov. 18 at Innabah Camp and Retreat Center in Chester County. The pastor says the worst case scenario would involve his being stripped of his ministerial credentials, despite the fact that he has been ordained in the United Methodist Church since 1996.
A Facebook fan page for Schaefer has nearly 1,400 likes.
Winnie McCroy is the Women on the EDGE Editor, HIV/Health Editor, and Assistant Entertainment Editor for EDGE Media Network, handling all women's news, HIV health stories and theater reviews throughout the U.S. She has contributed to other publications, including The Village Voice, Gay City News, Chelsea Now and The Advocate, and lives in Brooklyn, New York.
