Pa. Methodist pastor suspended for performing gay wedding set to learn his clerical fate
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Rev. Frank Schaefer, a United Methodist clergyman convicted of breaking church law for officiating at his son's same-sex wedding, speaks during a news conference, Monday, Dec. 16, 2013, at the Arch Street United Methodist Church in Philadelphia. Schaefer plans to defy a church order to surrender his credentials for performing a same-sex wedding. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke) (The Associated Press)
A United Methodist pastor from central Pennsylvania is about to find out whether he'll be defrocked or allowed to continue his ministry after officiating at his son's same-sex marriage.
The Rev. Frank Schaefer of Lebanon has already been suspended. He's scheduled to meet with church officials Thursday morning in Norristown, a Philadelphia suburb.
Schaefer was told to resign from the clergy by Thursday if he could not follow the denomination's Book of Discipline.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Schaefer says the book discriminates against gay people. He says he won't voluntarily surrender his credentials and hopes the church has a change of heart.
Schaefer has planned an afternoon news conference. It will be held at a Methodist church in Philadelphia where an associate pastor was defrocked in 2005 for being in a lesbian relationship.