(Church) Jury Convicts Pa. Methodist Pastor for Gay Wedding

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Jury Convicts Pa. Methodist Pastor for Gay Wedding

SPRING CITY, Pa. November 18, 2013 (AP)
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press

A United Methodist minister was convicted Monday in a Pennsylvania church trial of breaking church law by officiating at his son's same-sex marriage, a case that rekindled debate over the policy of the nation's largest mainline Protestant denomination.

The Rev. Frank Schaefer testified that he tried to follow God's command to minister to all, even if he disobeyed the Methodist Book of Discipline.

Schaefer, of Lebanon, Pa., said he could have avoided the trial by agreeing to avoid any more same-sex ceremonies. But he declined, noting that three of his four children are gay.

The charges over the 2007 ceremony in Massachusetts came just a month shy of the church's six-year statute of limitations, after a congregant complained.

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Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/united-methodists-pa-pastor-gay-marriage-20926043

[TexasProgresive]

1. Would it be too much trouble to add church in front of jury? n/t

[Eugene]

4. Done. nt

[dimbear]

2. So much for the Voice of Reason. n/t

[cbayer]

3. Well, that's bad. The only possible silver lining is that it might lead the Methodists

to reconsider their current position and rules regarding marriage equality.

We can always hope, can't we?

[rug]

5. The penalty imposed will be the real signal.

Schaefer could face punishment ranging from a reprimand to losing his minister's credentials after the jury convicted him of breaking church law that bans clergy from performing same-sex weddings. The jury will reconvene Tuesday for the penalty phase.

[dimbear]

6. It isn't hard to come crosswise with your church by being too liberal. The opposite case,

being too conservative, would only get attention if you're a full blown Nazi. It gives a peep into the nature of the institution.

[hrmjustin]

7. This stinks!