Defrocked "Pastor" Who Presided Over "Gay" Son’s "Wedding" Is Reinstated

theblaze.com "Just days after the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the nation’s largest Presbyterian denomination, voted to embrace gay marriage, the United Methodist Church has decided to reinstate a pastor who was defrocked after presiding over his son’s same-sex nuptials. The Rev. Frank Schaefer, 52, successfully appealed the denomination’s December decision to remove his pastoral rights after he conducted the 2007 ceremony in violation of church law. The United Methodist Church’s Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals reinstated the preacher Tuesday and ordered that Schaefer be compensated for all lost wages since his defrocking, according to United Methodist News Service. The nine-person panel comprised of church members and faith leaders unanimously found that Schaefer’s punishment was inappropriate under denominational regulations. The pastor, who will soon be heading to work in California in a new position ministering to college students, is exuberant over the decision, predicting that it could spell a coming changes in Methodists’ official policies on gays. 'Today there was a very clear and strong signal from the church, and that message is, ‘Change is on the way,’ Schaefer told the New York Times." to read more: theblaze.com