For most fathers, their relationship with their sons is a special one. We here at The Inquisitr have reported on when fathers were the best, especially for Father’s Day . We also reported a Father’s Day hoax that really got underneath people’s skin. What is saddening is that the hoax may have angered people, but it didn’t get the same treatment as if it were to be Mother’s Day. I guess Chris Rock was right in his joke that nobody really cares about daddies right?
For one father and son, their bond is very close, beginning when the son was born six weeks premature with blood poisoning and a week heart and lungs. The doctor said he wouldn’t make it through the night. Blessedly, the son survived and just recently, the father — who is a minister — officiated his son’s marriage… his gay marriage.
According to very similar reports by Telegram and The New York Times , Rev. Frank Schaefer, a minister for the United Methodist Church, thought his son as a miracle child and was saved by a combination of medicine and prayer. In short, he thought his son was saved for something special. What that special reason was unknown but he felt in his heart there was going to be something special as he had this to say in a statement:
“We couldn’t even touch him; he was in an incubator, and we had to reach in with latex gloves through those holes in the sides. I begged God to please save his life.”
Fortunately, Frank Schaefer’s son survived and through the years, their bond grew deeper as father and son. In a turn where he had to make a choice between upholding his church’s teachings and affirming his son’s sexual orientation, Frank chose to put his career on the line by officiating at his son’s marriage. The actions that followed, including a rebellion in the congregation, a church trial, a defrocking, and then a reinstatement last month, have made the Shaefers symbols of the issue facing much of Christianity: How does religious doctrine on homosexuality respond to the longings for spirituality and community from congregants and family members who are gay?
Usually, this issue is a battle of what God says in the Holy Bible and what one feels for family members who happen to be gay. There are plenty of Bible verses that support both sides on the surface but never truly dive into the spirit of what God wants. Nevertheless, as stated above, Schaefer went though a lot before going to a church trial in which the local bishop dropped the charges.
Nevertheless, the line has been set as the denomination of the United Methodist Church has been divided over sexual issues, and although it has ruled that banning the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” and the celebration of gay marriage, hundreds of clergy have said they are willing to officiate at gay ceremonies in violation of church law. Thirty-six other clergy members now face the same disciplinary process Schaefer went through.
In conclusion, Frank Schaefer and his son Tim are recommitted to their relationship with the United Methodist Church, or at least with Christianity. Frank also has three gay children and one straight son and has become a sought-out speaker on gay rights. He also advocates change. As for Tim, he too wants to be ordained as a minister in which he had this to state:
“I really look up to my dad as my pastor, and I felt a calling to ministry even as a teenager. The only thing that made me question that was that I thought, as a gay person, I will never be accepted as a pastor, and I was not going to be one of those people who denied what I was, remained celibate or pretended to be in a heterosexual marriage.”
Frank Schaefer hopes the denomination would change its policies before his son finishes theological training as he concludes with the following statement:
“There’s something about one of your children stepping into your footsteps,” he said. “He is a P.K. — a pastor’s kid — but in light of that horrible trial, that he still feels that calling, that’s remarkable.”
[Image via Bing]
