{"id":8705,"date":"2014-10-27T21:46:37","date_gmt":"2014-10-28T04:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/?p=8705"},"modified":"2014-10-27T21:53:07","modified_gmt":"2014-10-28T04:53:07","slug":"decision-wont-end-united-methodist-same-sex-debate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/decision-wont-end-united-methodist-same-sex-debate\/","title":{"rendered":"Decision won\u2019t end United Methodist same-sex debate"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kathy L. Gilbert |\u00a0<\/strong>Oct. 27, 2014 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)<\/h4>\n

After a year of frocking, defrocking and re-refrocking,\u00a0The United Methodist Church\u2019s top court\u00a0<\/a>has upheld an appellate committee\u2019s earlier ruling to reinstate the Rev. Frank Schaefer\u2019s clergy credentials.<\/p>\n

The complaint that prompted the series of rulings<\/a>\u00a0was filed against the Pennsylvania pastor for violating church law when he officiated at his son\u2019s same-sex wedding.<\/p>\n

Schaefer called the decision by Judicial Council,<\/a>\u00a0released on Oct. 27, a small step toward reconciliation for full inclusion of LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning) persons within the denomination.<\/p>\n

Good News, an unofficial United Methodist renewal group, said the decision \u201coverturns the good faith effort of the trial court to craft a penalty that tempered justice with grace.\u201d<\/p>\n

[quote_box_right]SCHAEFER TIMELINE<\/p>\n

1996\u2014Frank Schaefer ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n

1998\u2014Ordained as elder.<\/p>\n

2002\u2014Appointed to Zion of Iona United Methodist Church in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, as member of Eastern Pennsylvania Conference.<\/p>\n

April 28, 2007\u2014Officiated at son\u2019s private, same-sex wedding in Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

April 2, 2013\u2014Complaint filed against Schaefer by member of Zion Iona.<\/p>\n

Nov. 18-19\u2014Trial held. Schaefer suspended from ministerial duties for 30 days.<\/p>\n

Dec. 19\u2014Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Board of Ordained Ministry take away Schaefer\u2019s ministerial credentials.<\/p>\n

Dec. 20\u2014Bishop Minerva Carca\u00f1o, California-Pacific Conference, offers Schaefer position in her conference.<\/p>\n

July 1\u2014He is assigned to Isla Vista Student Ministry, Santa Barbara, California.<\/p>\n

Jan. 22, 2014\u2014Schaefer files appeal to Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals.<\/p>\n

Feb. 20, 2014\u2014Date set for hearing appeal.<\/p>\n

June 24, 2014\u2014Schaefer\u2019s ministerial credentials reinstated and Eastern Pennsylvania Conference told to compensate Schaefer for all lost salary and benefits dating from Dec. 19, 2013.<\/p>\n

July 17, 2014\u2014Counsel for church files appeal of appeals committee decision.<\/p>\n

Oct. 22, 2014\u2014Oral hearing heard by Judicial Council.<\/p>\n

Oct. 27\u2014Judicial Council releases decision affirming reinstatement of Schaefer\u2019s ministerial credentials.[\/quote_box_right]<\/p>\n

Many church rulings<\/h4>\n

The Judicial Council heard oral arguments from the Rev. Christopher Fisher<\/a>, counsel for the church, and the Rev. Scott Campbell, counsel for Schaefer, on Oct. 22. It was the last in a line of church rulings that began in November 2013 when a church trial court suspended Schaefer for 30 days and asked him to consider whether he could uphold the denomination\u2019s lawbook \u201cin its entirety.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Schaefer said he could not, the Eastern Pennsylvania\u2019s Board of Ordained Ministry voted to strip him of his credentials after the 30-day suspension.<\/p>\n

Schaefer appealed.<\/p>\n

The Northeastern Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals reinstated him in June.<\/p>\n

Fisher appealed.<\/p>\n

The Judicial Council considered the appeal and upheld his reinstatement.<\/p>\n

\u201cTheir (Judicial Council) decision signals hope to our LGBTQ community that has not always seen the rule of love and grace winning over the letter of the archaic law the church still subscribes to,\u201d Schaefer said after hearing about the ruling.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Thomas Lambrecht, spokesman for Good News, said, \u201cThe decision will push future trial courts in a more punitive direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood News will continue to advocate scriptural doctrinal and moral teachings and be a voice for those whose evangelical faith is often discounted by the leadership of our church.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schaefer experienced no legal consequences for violating the United Methodist Book of Discipline, Lambrecht said, and publicly stated he could not uphold the covenant of all United Methodist clergy, although he is still serving in an active ministry.<\/p>\n

\u201cSuch an outcome betrays the dysfunction in our denomination and the inability to hold members accountable to the vows they have made,\u201d Lambrecht said.<\/p>\n

Question over penalty<\/h4>\n

Scott Campbell said it was central to the case that the appellate committee used two previous Judicial Council decisions to declare that the trial court had improperly mixed and matched penalties \u2014 one of which was based on a future possible act.<\/p>\n

Although Schaefer was charged with performing a same-gender wedding in violation of church law, Campbell pointed out, \u201cIt\u2019s been turned by the church into something totally different. They\u2019re asking questions about what he\u2019s going to commit to in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Making a penalty contingent on what a person may or may not do has been \u201cclearly illegal\u201d in United Methodist polity for some time, he told United Methodist News Service. \u201cThat\u2019s a foundational point of justice, not only in the church system, but in the civil system as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell said he appreciates that the Judicial Council decision \u201creally draws on the most reasoned principles of the entire tradition of our jurisprudence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jen Ihlo, who chaired the Northeastern Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals, and is a lay member at Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Washington, said she was \u201cgrateful\u201d for the Judicial Council\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n

“I am grateful that the Judicial Council affirmed the hard work and decisions of the NEJ Appeals Committee in the Frank Schaefer matter.\u00a0The NEJ Appeals Committee undertook its work and our mandate under the\u00a0Discipline<\/em>\u00a0with a serious commitment to creating a sound process for hearing and deliberating the Rev. Schaefer\u2019s appeal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Painful season\u2019<\/h4>\n

Bishop Peggy Johnson, episcopal leader of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, said several attempts at a just resolution ended in the church trial of Nov. 18-19, 2013.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis has been a painful season for me and many members of our conference,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She pointed out the conference recently found a just resolution to a complaint \u201cbrought against a group of clergy who co-officiated in another, symbolic same-gender wedding in November 2013,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Johnson said she believes these difficult dialogues will eventually lead toward \u201crevelatory wisdom\u201d and a stronger more united church.<\/p>\n

Same-sex law unchanged<\/h4>\n

The Rev. Ted A. Campbell, associate professor of history at Southern Methodist University\u2019s Perkins School of Theology, said the ruling does not change church law, which forbids same-gender marriages.<\/p>\n

Campbell said he thought the court had ruled correctly that Schaefer could not be tried for something he hadn\u2019t done, but cautioned it would be a mistake to view the ruling as a huge victory for full inclusion of LGBQT persons in the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is not a victory for the progressive wing of the church,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Rev. Thomas E. Frank, professor and chair of history at Wake Forest University and one of the witnesses who testified during Schaefer\u2019s trial, \u00a0said the decision was \u201cabsolutely correct, thoroughly grounded in the Book of Discipline and in Judicial Council precedents.<\/p>\n

\u201cClergy across our connection can celebrate a decision that protects our clergy right to trial and our freedom to use our very best and most prayerful pastoral judgment in being ministers of the church,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Burden lifted<\/h4>\n

Schaefer and his wife, Brigitte, were flying to their new home in Santa Barbara, California, at the time the announcement of decision was made public. When he landed, he said the decision was a \u201chuge relief.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bishop Minerva Carca\u00f1o, episcopal leader of the California-Pacific Conference, offered Schaefer an appointment at Isla Vista Student Ministry after he was defrocked.<\/p>\n

\u201cI rejoice in the decision of the Judicial Council in the case of the Rev. Frank Schaefer for I believe it affirms our United Methodist commitment to doing all the good we can in the name of Jesus our Lord.\u00a0Already Rev. Schaefer’s ministry is bearing much good fruit in Southern California. The Judicial Council decision now frees him to continue the work of making disciples of Jesus for the transformation of the world,\u201d Carca\u00f1o said.<\/p>\n

On Oct. 23, the day after the Judicial Council hearing on whether to affirm or defrock him, Schaefer and his wife were warmly greeted by supporters at St. Ann\u2019s Episcopal Church in Nashville, Tennessee, where he was signing copies of his book, \u201cDefrocked.\u201d<\/p>\n

He joked at the time that he might have to change the name of his book depending on the outcome of the council\u2019s ruling. But he added that he was \u201ccautiously optimistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an amazing hearing, I felt really good about it,\u201d he told the gathering in Nashville. In the audience were several young divinity students from Vanderbilt University\u2019s Divinity School.<\/p>\n

\u201cI will continue the fight alongside thousands of others in the reconciling movement for full inclusion and an open altar for all. I know the day is coming when this dream will be reality and I don’t think it is that far in the future,\u201d Schaefer said.<\/p>\n

\n

Gilbert\u00a0is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or<\/em>\u00a0newsdesk@umcom.org<\/strong><\/a>. Linda Bloom<\/em>,\u00a0a United Methodist News Service multimedia reporter based in New York, contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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