Methodist pastor found guilty at church trial for officiatg at gay son’s weddg - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• METHODIST PASTOR MARRIED GAY SON ‘ GOOD NSCIENCE,’ NOW ON TRIAL
• LGBTQ UNED METHODIST LEARS GUTTED BY CHURCH'S ANTI-GAY CISN
• METHODIST PASTOR FOUND GUILTY AT CHURCH TRIAL FOR OFFICIATG AT GAY SON’S WEDDG
• WALL STREET CEOS OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR GAY SONS
• HOW ‘LOVE, VICTOR’ CAPTUR ONE PARENT’S STGGLE TO ACCEPT HER GAY SON (EXCLUSIVE)
• IS YOUR CHILD GAY?

METHODIST PASTOR MARRIED GAY SON ‘ GOOD NSCIENCE,’ NOW ON TRIAL

In a July 2013 Gallup poll, 52% of Amerins said they would vote for a law legalizg gay marriage, and 42% said they would not. Supreme Court stck down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act June, the number of stat backg gay marriage has creased. At prent, 15 stat and the District of Columbia have laws allowg gay marriage and a 16th state, Illois, is schled to jo wh days when the ernor signs a bill that has already passed the what is acceptable and legal wh secular societi n have a different standg relig Uned Methodist church, the natn’s largt male Prottant nomatn, also rejects homosexualy as beg ntrary to Christian teachg and bars s clergy om performg same-sex marriag.

However, gays and lbians are allowed to be full members of the Methodists’ same-sex policy, reaffirmed by the 1, 000-member General Conference 2012, has divid the church.

Hundreds of Methodist misters have publicly rejected church doctre on homosexualy, and some face disciple for pridg over same-sex unns.

LGBTQ UNED METHODIST LEARS GUTTED BY CHURCH'S ANTI-GAY CISN

”Schaefer, of Hull, Mass., told the reporters recent days that he will ttify on his father’s fense wants “to highlight how hurtful the policy of the church is toward the LGBT muny, ” he Schaefer said he stggled wh his homosexualy as a teenager and prayed every night that “God would make me normal, take this away om me. Schaefer has told reporters that he uld have avoid a trial if he had agreed to never aga perform a same-genr weddg, but he cled bee three of his four children are mers killed, 20 jured Colorado mg accintNew Jersey’s gay nversn therapy ban fac another ttMidwt tornado: “Devastatn. The year was said some church lears were supportive of his g out as gay, while others enuraged him to rema the closet.

He, and untls others, had prevly hoped that a vote durg a special ssn of the UMC’s general nference last month would change the urse of the church’s relatnship wh lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer vote, however, not only strengthened the church’s ban on openly gay clergy and same-sex marriag, but also creased penalti for future vlatns. Believe homosexualy should be accepted, Amerins only make up 56 percent of the general nference legat.

METHODIST PASTOR FOUND GUILTY AT CHURCH TRIAL FOR OFFICIATG AT GAY SON’S WEDDG

About 30 percent of the church’s members live Ain natns, many of which still nsir homosexualy a 864 legat attendance, the “Tradnal Plan” passed by a narrow marg of 54 vot.

“To see a global body of untri where homosexualy is still illegal only vote tradnally by 54 vot — I mean, that’s pretty amazg to me, ” Warren said.

WALL STREET CEOS OPEN UP ABOUT THEIR GAY SONS

Oliveto is the Methodist church's first openly gay Sangosti / The Denver Post via Getty Imag fileBishop Karen Oliveto, the first openly gay bishop the history of the UMC, se the general nference vote as not ditive of the valu of the church. ”On Tuday morng, the jury renvened to vise Schaefer’s penalty for agreeg 2006 to officiate at the marriage of his son, Tim, who earlier had ntemplated suici over his homosexualy.

HOW ‘LOVE, VICTOR’ CAPTUR ONE PARENT’S STGGLE TO ACCEPT HER GAY SON (EXCLUSIVE)

“I believe the Bible, and the [Methodist Book of Disciple] is enforcg the Bible and the Ten Commandments, ” said Bailey om a wns stand before some 150 rapt listeners — mostly advot for gay rights. ”Ined, Schaefer is the first among five Methodist misters to be acced by church officials over the past year of possibly vlatg church doctre on gay rights.

The s, which are beg closely watched by advot on both sis, reprent perhaps the biggt flare-up recent years male Prottantism over the issue of homosexualy. Schaefer’s llisn wh half of his ngregatn was some ways grew up a nservative evangelil home Germany and believed as a younger adult that “homosexualy is patible wh Christian teachg, ” he said an terview, g the termology of the Methodist Book of Disciple. That was two years after a parent lled the pastor anonymoly to tell him Tim, then 16, was gay and nsirg suici.

IS YOUR CHILD GAY?

“What sticks my md, he was so upset not that I was gay, but that I had planned to wa to leave the hoe before sayg anythg, ” said Tim Schaefer, who liv Massachetts and is no longer married. While Schaefer didn’t preach explicly on homosexualy, she said, general ments about cln felt ercive a tradnal muny.

"The Methodist Church, like the rt of male Prottantism, has been wrtlg wh issu surroundg gay rights for s. It has add affirmatns about the digny of gays and lbians and the importance of pastors to mister to them, but unlike some other male nomatns, the Methodist Church has not expand gay rights on thgs such as marriage and allowg clergy to be openly realy, many bishops practice a don’t ask, don’t tell policy, and many Methodist church are led by gay were at least four Methodist Church trials between 1998 and 2011 for clergy acced of performg same-sex weddgs or of beg openly gay, and all were nvicted. He ma no announcement of his role the weddg to his ngregatn, though Leibold and others say mors about his participatn existed for Leibold, Mease and others say they don’t support gay marriage, they say wasn’t a key issue as tensns ntued to build.