GAY TRUTH

The Rev. Frank Schaefer did not hesitate for a moment when asked by his gay son, Tim, to preside at his wedding in Hull. The Methodist minister was honored — and overjoyed. Last week, six years after the ceremony, Schaefer was convicted at an emotional church trial in Pennsylvania for breaking church laws that forbid United Methodist clergy from performing same-sex weddings. The jury imposed a 30-day suspension, and told Schaefer that if he could not comply with church law, he must surrender his credentials as a clergyman. “Absurd? Prehistoric?” said the Rev. Robert Coombe, who represented Schaefer in the trial, searching for words to describe his view of the proceedings. “Nobody wants a trial. It’s very painful to everyone involved, and it’s costly to the church, so why are we doing this?” Schaefer’s is one of a number of similar cases making their way through the legal system of the United Methodist Church, exposing a sharp rift within the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomi

TAMPA, FLORIDA , May 7, 2012,  –  Members of the nation’s largest mainline Protestant church voted to maintain the doctrine that homosexual actions were “incompatible with Christian teaching” on Thursday. The United Methodist Church voted down  two proposals to water down its stance  on homosexuality on Thursday. One proposal called homosexuals “people of sacred worth” and acknowledged differing viewpoints on the issue, while another said humans did not know enough about human sexuality to prefer one lifestyle over another. The Religion News Service   reports   after delegates defeated the pro- LGBT proposals, “gay rights activists flooded the assembly floor and disrupted the session by singing the hymn ‘What Does the Lord Require of You?’” They refused to honor Indiana Bishop Michael Coyner’s request to stop singing, forcing him to curtail that morning’s session. Hillary's views conflict with those of her denomination. The church’s position, enshrined in its  Book of Discipli