Event information:
Who: The Rev. Frank Schaefer
Service, book signing and discussion.
“Defrocked: How a Father’s Act of Love Shook the United Methodist Church”
7:30 p.m. Thursday at St. Mark United Methodist Church, 781 Peachtree St. N.E.
The Rev. Frank Schaefer was raised to believe homosexuality was a sin.
But years later he was removed from a job he loved in the United Methodist Church after he performed the same-sex wedding for his eldest son.
Would he do it again?
“The answer is yes, obviously,” he said. “I love my son very much. I could not have denied him and I wouldn’t have wanted to.”
Schaefer, who was defrocked and later reinstated, will be in Atlanta Thursday to lead a service and discuss and sign copies of his book, “Defrocked: How a Father’s Act of Love Shook the United Methodist Church,” starting at 7:30 p.m. at St. Mark United Methodist Church, 781 Peachtree St. N.E.
He now leads a church in Southern California.
Later this month, the Methodist church’s highest court will decide whether to uphold his reinstatement.
In 2000, his oldest son, Tim, came out. Tim had “heard at a church conference that you can’t be homosexual and go to Heaven and it devastated him,” said Schaefer, 52.
He told his son that he was proud of him just as he was.
“We have really been thrown into the middle of the debate in the church,” said Schaefer, who also has two other children who are gay. “Because of what I did, I challenged church doctrine and church laws.”
In his book, Schaefer shares his story and pulls back the curtain on what went on behind the scenes.
At times he was frustrated and felt God had adandoned him. Now, “it’s amazing how much good has come out of this struggle. “
On the U.S. Supreme Court action this week that cleared the way for legal same-sex marriages in five more states:
I consider this a significant victory. I woke up to the news and I was just overjoyed — and Oklahoma and Utah, of all states! I celebrated today. What a great day. Now we have 30 states, and that is just marvelous. I really celebrated because it’s going to be additional pressure on the church to address the issue. The hierarchy of the church really doesn’t know how much harm is being done … I hope it opens dialogue even more.
On the Oct. 22 hearing before the UMC’s highest court, the judicial council, that will determine whether he can keep his credentials:
There is going to be a panel of nine judges. This is on the global United Methodist church level so the panel has an international representation … Whatever decision they make will be final. There is no appeal. If they defrock me again, it’s final. If they uphold the lower court decision, then I remain reinstated. A lot rides on this, not only for me personally, but also for the global United Methodist church community with 12 million members watching … There have been threats from conservative and progressives alike that there will be a split depending on how this issue is resolved.
What do you think will happen?
To me, it's a total toss-up. I can't really make a prediction. (If I remain reinstated) it would still be victory for me to celebrate. I would celebrate it for my children and for our LGBT members of the church. It would be a clear signal that the church is starting to change on the issue.
How will this mean that the church is changing?
I see the upcoming judicial council hearing as a test case for the global United Methodist church … Given the fact that the council has a global representation, a decision in my favor would indicate that the global church is starting to realize that we have to take another look at church doctrine in light of the fast-moving gay rights development, especially in the United States.
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