United Methodist
Church ministers in California are putting their careers
on the line by performing same-sex marriages, the Los
Angeles Times reported Thursday. “I'm tired
of being part of a church that lacks
integrity,” the Reverend Janet Gollery
McKeithen of Santa Monica's Church in Ocean Park told the
Times. “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.”
United Methodist
Church ministers in California are putting their careers
on the line by performing same-sex marriages, the Los
Angeles Times reported Thursday. “I'm tired
of being part of a church that lacks integrity,” the
Reverend Janet Gollery McKeithen of Santa Monica's
Church in Ocean Park told the Times. “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 Times
reports that ministers in Santa Monica, Claremont,
Walnut Creek, and other California cities have already
officiated same-sex marriages in the state, or plan to do
so.
The ministers are
acting against strict religious orders that forbid them
to perform weddings for gay and lesbian couples, risking
their jobs and clerical credentials.
“Pastors
need to know that there are consequences,” Bishop
Mary Ann Swenson, one of the two bishops who oversee
United Methodist churches in California, told the
Times. “We are bound to honor the policy
of our denomination.” (The Advocate)
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