Written By: Katie Kyros
Supporters held a vigil Sunday for the Lebanon County pastor who’s facing a church trial, after he officiated his son’s same-sex wedding.
Reverend Frank Schaefer says his son asked him to officiate the wedding in 2007 in Massachusetts, where same-sex marriage is legal.
Supporters gathered at Coleman Chapel in Lebanon to say a prayer and light candles.
The church trial will be held on November 18 in Chester County. A jury of fellow pastors could decide to defrock Schaefer and strip him of his title.
“I’m hoping that they’ll be parents, that they will be able to put themselves into my shoes,” says Schaefer. “And to ask themselves, what if my child were gay? What if my child had asked me to perform their marriage?”
The vigil was part of a nationwide event in support of the United Methodist minister.