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

The Methodist Church in the UK is undertaking a consultation of its members about whether the church should become the first Christian denomination in Britain to offer church “weddings” to same-sex couples. Members of the approximately 5,000 Methodist congregations across Britain have been given until February 10, 2014 to express their views on same-sex "marriage," when the results of the consultation will be assessed by the Methodist Conference, the church’s policy-making body. The church could become the first Christian denomination in Britain to offer church “weddings” to same-sex couples. The Methodist Church currently defines marriage as a “gift of God” that is “a lifelong union in body, mind and spirit of one man and one woman.”  However, the Methodist Conference has  stated  that this definition is now "at odds" with the terms of the UK's Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act, which comes into force next year.  In July the Methodist Conference set