A Methodist pastor in Seattle is defying his church hierarchy and pledging to continue to officiate at same sex weddings even after another pastor was punished for doing the same thing earlier this week.
On Monday, 13 Methodist pastors found Rev. Frank Schaefer of the Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in Lebanon, Pennsylvania guilty of "conducting a ceremony that celebrates same-sex unions" and “disobedience to order and discipline of the Methodist Church" for participating in his son's gay wedding.
Schaefer was suspended for 30 days and will have his credentials revoked if he does not agree with the church's stand on marriage by the end of his suspension.
"The United Methodist Church is wrong, stupid, and evil on its stand on homosexuality," Methodist Pastor Sandy Brown, who performs same sex marriages at the oldest church in Seattle, told KOMO on Tuesday. "Everybody deserves to be a recipient of the ministry of the church."
In an interview with KIRO, Brown explained that the "most important thing is same-sex couples are being ministered to. That’s much more important than an individual’s ordination."
So, Brown says that the upcoming same sex ceremonies at his church will go forward as planned.
“Many clergy, just like me, have decided to take that risk anyway in favor of ministering to the people in our church," he insisted.
Watch this video from KOMO, broadcast Nov. 19, 2013.
