Rev. Frank Schaefer, a United Methodist pastor who was defrocked after performing the wedding of his gay son and his partner, has been reinstated after an appeals panel on Tuesday overturned an earlier ruling against him.
Once Rev. Schaefer was removed from the clergy, he became an outspoken activist for gay and lesbian rights.
Before his defrocking in December, Rev. Schaefer had been the pastor of Zion United
Methodist Church of Iona in Lebanon, Pa. He will now resume his pastoral work
in Santa Barbara, Calif., where he will minister to college students from the invitation of Bishop Minerva G. Carcaño.
Many predict that the issues of same-sex marriage and ordination of non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy will further divide the denomination after this ruling.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/06/25/us/methodist-panel-reinstates-defrocked-pastor.html?_r=0
