Defrocked: How A Father's Act of Love Shook the United Methodist Church

by Frank Schaefer, Sherri Wood Emmons

Overview

In Defrocked, Frank Schaefer tells the story of officiating at his son's same-sex marriage and, six years later, his subsequent trial by a United Methodist court. That trial stripped Schaefer of his ordination after more than 20 years of ministry in the nation's largest mainline Protestant denomination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780827244993
Publisher:	Christian Board of Publication
Publication date:	07/30/2014
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Franklyn Schaefer is a former ordained minister of United Methodist Church where he ministered for more than 20 years until December 2013. He is married to Brigitte and has four children. He was educated at Princeton Theological Seminary and also earned a CPE degree at Hershey Medical Center's residency program for chaplains. In 2013, Franklyn Schaefer was tried by a United Methodist court for officiating his son's same-sex marriage and was defrocked over his refusal to uphold the Book of Discipline, which meant virtually to denounce gay marriage rights. Now a United Methodist lay person, speaker and activist, he continues to advocate for human rights.

Sherri Wood Emmons is a freelance writer and editor and has published three novels. She is a graduate of Earlham College and the University of Denver Publishing Institute. A mother of three, she lives in Indiana with her husband, two fat beagles, and four spoiled cats.

Table of Contents

Prologue xi

Deep Roots 1

Becoming a Minister 7

Finding the Methodist Church 9

My Son is Gay 12

Zion of Iona 18

Tim's Wedding 23

Worship Wars 28

The First Accusation 31

The "Concerned Group" 33

The Second Accusation 35

Registered Junk Mail 37

Initial Support 39

Lawyering Up 42

A Leave of Absence and a Mass Departure 45

Raising Defense Funds 49

On the Home Front 53

Meanwhile, Back at the Church 57

Preparing for the Trial 60

The Trial, Day one 65

Guilty 73

The Trial, Day Two 77

Go Defrock Yourself 86

The Aftermath 94