30 pastors decided to attend the wedding of their friend, a fellow pastor fired for being gay and having a same-sex partner. Now nine of them are facing disciplinary charges.
Last week, Benjamin Hutchison, the beloved Senior Pastor at Cassopolis United Methodist Church in Michigan, was fired – technically, forced to resign – after his District Bishop asked him if he had a same-sex partner. He does, it was well-known among his parishioners, and so Hutchison decided he would marry his long-time partner. The happy couple married on Friday.
Hutchison’s congregation is angry about the dismissal, and have made their position quite clear:
Among the guests at Hutchison’s wedding were 30 fellow United Methodist Church pastors. Fifteen of them joined together to pronounce Hutchison and his partner, Monty, “husband and husband.”
Now, nine of them are facing disciplinary charges from the United Methodist Church district superintendent in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Church law forbids pastors from being openly-gay and forbids pastors from marrying someone of the same gender.
Rev. Michael Tupper is one of the pastors who officiated the wedding, and he signed the marriage license. He tried to get more pastors’ signatures on the document as an “as an act of protest, an act of witness,” but the county clerk only allowed two signatures.
“Folks were aware that it violated the book of discipline by saying those words,” Tupper told the Kalamazoo Gazette/MLive.com.
Tupper says the pastors who participated in Hutchison’s wedding could face a church trial and lose their credentials, effectively removing them as United Methodist Church pastors.
“I want to highlight the injustice, at the same time to witness to our inclusive God who does welcome all people and welcomes them whether they are gay or straight,” Tupper said. “It’s just another opportunity to celebrate and witness to our inclusive God.”
Next May, leaders among the United Methodist Church will meet t discuss the issue of gay clergy, one that Tupper thinks might force a chasm in the church.
“There’s definitely more push on both sides, both the conservative side as well as the progressive side, to fight over this and possibly to split over this,” Tupper said. “I’m hopeful that we can at least agree to disagree. In our denomination now we can’t even agree to disagree on it.”
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Image by Evan Dean via Twitter