Tuesday, September 24, 2013
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — A pastor says his congregation has fired him for conducting the wedding of two men at a central Pennsylvania mayor’s home.
The Rev. Ken Kline Smeltzer tells the Centre Daily Times he’s been fired for marrying Pike County men Joseph Davis and Gregory Scalzo on Aug. 19 at the home of State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham.
Goreham had pledged to marry any same-sex couples who came to her with a license issued by a rogue county clerk in eastern Pennsylvania, but decided against that once borough officials told her that would violate her oath of office.
Instead, she invited Smeltzer, who is a friend, to perform the wedding.
Smeltzer won’t identify the congregation that fired him. An online newspaper ad lists him as pastor of Burnham Church of the Brethren, which wasn’t answering its phone this morning.