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Wis. pastor heads to trial for marrying lesbian couple
AP
Photo
In this June 16, 2011 photo, Rev. Amy DeLong sits at her home, in Osceola, Wis. While trials of pastors who conduct same-gender ceremonies have only occurred once every several years, the threat is indeed real: DeLong faces a three-day trial starting Tuesday, June 21, 2011, on two charges: violating a church prohibition on the ordination of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" and marrying a lesbian couple. (AP Photo/Stacy Bengs)
Associated Press
MILWAUKEE
A growing number of pastors in the United Methodist Church say they’re no longer willing to obey a church rule that prohibits them from officiating at same-sex marriages, despite the potential threat of being disciplined or dismissed from the church.
In some parts of the U.S., Methodist pastors have been marrying same-sex couples or conducting blessing ceremonies for same-sex unions for years with little fanfare and no backlash from the denomination. Calls to overturn the rule have become increasingly vocal in recent weeks, ratcheting up the pressure for the Methodist church to join other mainline Protestant denominations that have become more accepting of openly gay leaders.
While trials of pastors who conduct same-gender ceremonies have only occurred once every several years, the threat is indeed real. The Rev. Amy DeLong of Osceola in western Wisconsin faces a three-day trial starting Tuesday in Kaukauna on two charges: violating a church prohibition on the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” and marrying a lesbian couple.
The jury for the church trial will be selected from a pool of Wisconsin United Methodist clergy. A total of 13 clergy will be chosen to serve during the trial and penalty phase.
DeLong said she told her supervisors years ago that she was in a lesbian relationship and felt comforted by the support and caring she received in response.
While she avoided discussing her relationship in local church settings, she said her efforts to live halfway in the closet and halfway out took such a toll that she finally decided to break her silence. She agreed to marry a lesbian couple in the fall of 2009, and she didn’t mince words when she reported it in a required ministerial report a few months later. Eventually the two church charges were filed against her.
“I would be lying if I said this process hasn’t been difficult, but I also feel called to break the silence and tell my own truth regardless of the consequences,” said DeLong, 44. “When I entered [the ministry] I did not suspend my conscience. It’s incumbent on me not to perpetuate its unjust laws.”
The chances of getting the rule reversed within the Methodist church are far from certain, however. Rule changes must be approved by delegates at the church’s General Conference, held every four years. Because a growing number of delegates come from Africa, the Philippines and other theologically conservative regions, voting patterns reflect strong resistance to change.