Update: Finance agency extends benefits for same-sex couples
General agencies of the United Methodist Church will extend employee benefits to same-sex couples under a decision by the board of directors of the denomination’s General Council on Finance and...
View ArticleUpper N.Y. pastor expects to face church trial
The Rev. Stephen Heiss announced that expects to face a church trial on charges that he has violated the denomination's ban on clergy officiating at same-sex unions. He is at least the fifth clergy...
View ArticleSame-sex wedding is high-profile prelim to church trial
The wedding this weekend in Arch Street United Methodist Church in Philadelphia of two men is stirring many emotions in the denomination because not only will this same-sex couple be married in a...
View ArticleMore than 50 United Methodist clergy show support of marriage of gay couple
Inside the walls of a 150-year-old United Methodist church in Philadelphia on Nov. 9, Richard Kevin Taylor and William Robert Gatewood celebrated their 25-year love story with a service of Christian...
View ArticleChurch preparing for Pennsylvania clergy trial
For the first time since the 2012 United Methodist General Conference upheld the church’s stance that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching,” a United Methodist pastor will face a...
View ArticlePenalty phase begins in Pennsylvania clergy trial
SPRING CITY, Pa. (UMNS)—A jury of ordained United Methodist clergy has found the Rev. Frank Schaefer guilty on both counts of violating his vows as an ordained United Methodist elder not to perform...
View ArticleSchaefer suspended 30 days for performing same-sex wedding
The Rev. Frank Schaefer has been given a 30-day suspension and told that if he can't uphold the Book of Discipline he must surrender his credentials.The post Schaefer suspended 30 days for performing...
View ArticlePetitioners ask bishop to end clergy trials
Two days after a United Methodist pastor, the Rev. Frank Schaefer, was found guilty of violating the denomination’s lawbook for officiating at his son’s same-sex wedding, representatives of Faithful...
View ArticleSchaefer says he does not blame others for trial
When asked what he would say to the people who brought charges against him for officiating at his son’s same-sex marriage, the Rev. Frank Schaefer said, “I cannot blame them because at one point I also...
View ArticlePennsylvania pastor says he will not surrender clergy credentials
At a news conference at Arch Street United Methodist Church Dec. 16, the Rev. Frank Schaefer said he will not surrender his clergy credentials and intends to continue to be an outspoken advocate for...
View ArticleDefrocked pastor to preach Sunday in D.C. church
The Rev. Frank Schaefer says he is not ready to give up on The United Methodist Church and will immediately seek an appeal of a decision to take away his ministerial credentials.The post Defrocked...
View Article2013: Same-sex wedding issues abound
Weddings and trials sound disharmony for The United Methodist Church as it ends a year that included two well-publicized same-sex weddings and a high-profile church trial for a pastor who officiated at...
View ArticlePennsylvania pastor invited to join Cal-Pac conference
Frank Schaefer, who was asked Dec. 19 to surrender his ministerial credentials to the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference has been invited to join the California-Pacific Annual Conference.The post...
View ArticleBishop Schol addresses Schaefer case, clergy trials
Bishop John Schol issued a video statement Dec. 20 in response to the defrocking of Frank Schaefer and called for The United Methodist Church to stop using clergy trials as a way to resolve differences...
View ArticleSchaefer, family, join Foundry UMC in Washington
Frank Schaefer, the former United Methodist clergyman who was defrocked Dec. 19, is now a member of Foundry United Methodist Church and mulling over an offer to move west. Schaefer, his wife, Brigitte,...
View ArticlePerspectives on Schaefer case, same-sex debate, in United Methodist Church
The debate around same-gender weddings and human sexuality has heated up in The United Methodist Church after recent events including the defrocking of a pastor for performing the wedding of his gay...
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