United Methodist
Ministers Risk Careers for Same-Sex Marriage

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)