Rev. Frank Schaefer Handed 30-Day Suspension By Church Members For Participating In Gay Son's Marriage (VIDEO)

Reverend Frank Schaefer has been handed a 30-day suspension by a panel of methodist church members after he performed a gay wedding for his son in 2007, the Associated Press reported.

The "trials" began after Jon Boger, a member of Schaefer's congregation and the only witness in the case, expressed his displeasure less than a month before the congregation's set of limitations would expire after learning about the wedding this year. Boger testified Monday that he felt betrayed by Rev. Schaefer who baptized his children and buried his grandparents, the AP reported.

Schaefer, a United Methodist pastor, was convicted on Monday of breaking church law by officiating his son's wedding, bringing to light the church's view on gay marriages, the AP reported.

The trial occurred in southeastern Pennsylvania and a 13-member jury convicted Schaefer on two charges: That he officiated a gay wedding, and that he showed "disobedience to the order and discipline of the United Methodist Church," according to the AP.

Schaefer has four children, three of which identify as gay. He pleaded not guilty to the charges even though he could have avoided the trial if he had agreed to never again perform a same-gender wedding, the AP reported.

During his questioning, Boger said the law of the church should not be taken by reverends to do as they please, adding "it undermines their own credibility as a leader and also undermines the integrity of the church as a whole," according to the AP.

"It's his son. He loves his son. In a way I felt bad for him," Boger said, according to the AP. "But he's also shown no remorse or repentance, nor has he apologized to anyone."

Boger said Schaefer kept the marriage from the congregation.

Schaefer said Wednesday he did inform some superiors of his part in the marriage, but that he decided to keep it from the conservative church's congregation because he felt it would be "divisive," the AP reported.

The United Methodist Church, the nation's largest mainline Protestant denomination accepts gay and lesbian members, but it weirdly rejects the practice of homosexuality as "incompatible with Christian teaching," according to the AP.

The 51-year-old said he cannot abide by those laws and said he has to speak out about his beliefs.

"I can no longer be a silent supporter but that now I feel I have to be an advocate, an outspoken advocate, for all lesbian, gay, transgendered and bisexual people," Schaefer said Monday after the initial hearing.

Tim, Schaefer's son, came out to his parents at age 17 when he told them he was contemplating suicide because he was struggling with his sexual identity and the church's stance on homosexuality, according to the AP.

Schaefer testified on Wednesday in his defense saying he decided to break church rules out of love for his son, according to the AP. He said he might have lost what he called his "ritual purity" by disobeying the Methodist Book of Discipline, but that he felt he was obeying God's command to minister to everyone.

"He had heard messages that were hateful from the church, from the culture around him, that told him you're not normal, you're not valid, you're a freak," Schaefer testified, adding that if he said no when his son asked him to marry him he would be denying all the affirmations he and his wife gave him over the years, the AP reported.

"I love the United Methodist Church," Schaefer said, according to the AP. "I've been a minister for almost 20 years and there are so many good things about the United Methodist Church except for that one rule."

A lawyer for the church, Rev. Christopher Fisher, told a jury comprised of methodist church members the reverend "clearly violated the Book of Discipline," according to AP.

Fisher, who is also a church member and abides by their rules, including that of LGBT member acceptance, sed his closing arguments to condemn the act of homosexuality as immoral and said Schaefer does not have the right to perform gay marriages just because he now believes in LGBT rights, the AP reported. He ended with telling the jurors they were duty-bound to convict.

"You'll give an account for that at the last day, as we all will," he told the jury, the AP reported. The jury served him a 30-day suspension in which any disobedient act will result in his explusion.

After Fisher spoke, Schaefer supporters stood silent, and after he finished his closing argument, they joined hands and sang a hymn called "We Shall Overcome," the AP reported.

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