Source: Los Angeles Times, Dallas Morning News
Scores of United Methodist Church ministers in California are putting their careers on the line in an open revolt against religious edicts that forbid them to conduct weddings for gay and lesbian couples, Los Angeles Times reports.

The pastors could lose their jobs and clerical credentials in the church, the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.

Ministers in Santa Monica, Claremont, Walnut Creek and other cities have already performed ceremonies for gays and lesbians or are planning to do so.

In addition, 82 retired pastors in Northern California signed a resolution in June offering to perform such weddings on behalf of ministers who feel they can't do so themselves.

Pastors have been emboldened by United Methodist assemblies in California that declared their support last month for the state Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning a ban on same-sex marriage.

This spring, the United Methodist Church's international governing body, the General Conference, reaffirmed the existing language on homosexuality. But in June, California's two governing bodies approved resolutions supporting gay weddings.

The church's California-Pacific Annual Conference, convening June 18-22 in Redlands, approved three measures that support same-gender couples entering into the marriage covenant. Each "encourages both congregations and pastors to welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture and pastoral care for these families," according to a June 27 letter to the conference from Bishop Mary Ann Swenson and other conference leaders.

That same week in Sacramento, the California-Nevada Annual Conference approved two measures on the same issue, including one that lists 67 retired United Methodist clergy in northern California who have offered to conduct same-gender marriage ceremonies. The resolution commends the pastors' work in offering continued ministry.

The statements are the strongest yet on the issue by California United Methodists and have drawn cheers from gay rights advocates, who say the church and its pastors should extend to same-sex couples the same level of support it provides heterosexual couples.

The regional assemblies -- composed of lay leaders and clergy from California and other states -- also urged pastors and congregations to "welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture" for gay couples.

Defenders of gay marriage say they want to compel the 11-million-member denomination to live up to its slogan -- "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors."
"I'm tired of being part of a church that lacks integrity," said the Rev. Janet Gollery McKeithen of Santa Monica's Church in Ocean Park, who plans to conduct weddings for two gay couples in August and September. "I love my church, and I don't want to leave it. But I can't be part of a church that is willing to portray a God that is so hateful. I would rather be forced out."

The developments in the California conferences trouble United Methodists who view such actions as a challenge to both Scriptural authority and the church's covenant through its Book of Discipline. They note that General Conference has repeatedly affirmed its stance on homosexuality and homosexual unions.

Some conservative United Methodists believe that the debate over church rules ignores a deeper issue -- the Bible's prohibitions against homosexuality. "We have lost any ability to have a biblical discussion on the topic," said the Rev. John McFarland, senior pastor of Fountain Valley United Methodist Church.

McFarland was among California-Pacific members who questioned the wisdom of the body's decisions and the processes being used to discern God's voice.

"This topic is not being debated based on Scripture," said McFarland, pastor of Fountain Valley (Calif.) United Methodist Church. "It's being debated primarily on experience without regard to tradition, reason and Scripture." Scripture, tradition, experience and reason are the four themes cited by Methodism's founder, John Wesley, as illuminating the Christian faith.

But one of the authors of the retired ministers' measure, Don Fado, said he would willingly violate the guidelines on same-sex marriage as a matter of conscience, even if it meant the loss of clerical credentials and financial benefits.

"We are willing to put our professions on the line because this is so central to our ministry," said Fado, 74, retired pastor of St. Mark's United Methodist Church in Sacramento. "Any pastor who is called upon to make that decision knows there are 82 of us who are willing to make that stand."

Full article: Pastors defy United Methodist officials to conduct gay weddings | Los Angeles Times
California United Methodists make strong pro gay rights statements | Dallas Morning News