U.S. church ousts minister who performed gay son’s marriage
By Tricia L. Nadolny
PHILADELPHIA Reverend Frank Schaefer was defrocked Thursday for refusing to abide by the United Methodist Church's policies on homosexuality, writing another chapter in a case that stirred a wider call for social change after he was put on trial for conducting his son's gay wedding.
Schaefer, of Lebanon, Pa., had hoped the church's Board of Ordained Ministers would allow him to keep his credentials, effectively letting him stand as a voice for gay rights in a church deeply divided over its ban against same-sex weddings and gay clergy.
But a church spokesperson said the board was only asked to decide whether Schaefer had accepted a jury's order to uphold Methodist doctrine or surrender his ministerial credentials.
Schaefer chose to do neither.
His meeting Thursday with the board at the Norristown offices of the church's eastern Pennsylvania conference lasted only 15 minutes. As he left the offices with his wife, Bridget, Schaefer didn't comment.
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/4281901-u-s-church-ousts-minister-who-performed-gay-son-s-marriage/