Pastor sacked for performing gay son’s wedding reinstated after appeal
The defrocking of a pastor who officiated at his gay son’s wedding has been overturned at appeal.
After gaining international attention for his campaign to keep his job as a United Methodist Church Minister, Frank Schaefer, 52, had already said he would like to work as a minister again for the church. He began an appeal on Friday in Baltimore.
The nine-person panel on Tuesday issued an opinion reversing the lower church court decision.
Schaefer will now get back pay, and his punishment was reverted to a 30-day suspension, which he has already served.
He argued that his defrocking was illegal under church law.
Despite that the United Methodist Church accepts gay and lesbian members into its congregations, its rule book deems homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching”.
