Frank Schaefer (minister)

{{distinguish|Frank Schaeffer}}

{{Infobox person

|name = Frank Schaefer

|image = Rev. Franklyn Schaefer.JPG

|birth_name = Franklyn Schaefer

|birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|12|07|mf=y}}

}}

Franklyn "Frank" Schaefer (born December 7, 1961) is a German-American author and an LGBTQ advocate. He is an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church.

Schaefer established a popular Internet site for the support of Christian educators and ministers, a forum for the discussion and exchange of resources, called Desperate Preacher's Site, in 1996.{{cite web |url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2000/novemberweb-only/23.0.html?start=2 |title=Site Hopes to Help Pastors in a Sunday Sermon Crunch |publisher=Christianity Today |access-date=23 June 2017 |date=1 November 2000 |first=Ferdy |last=Baglo }}

Temporary defrocking

In 2013, he was tried by a United Methodist court for officiating at his son's same-sex marriage. He was defrocked on December 19, 2013, when he refused to uphold the Book of Discipline in its entirety, which would have meant to denounce same-sex marriage rights.{{cite web|author= |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/20/us/methodist-pastor-defrocked-over-gay-marriage-service.html |title=Defrocking of Minister Widens Split Over Gays |work=New York Times |date=2013-12-19 |access-date=2015-08-19 }} He was reinstated by the Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals on June 26, 2014. The restoration was upheld by the Judicial Council on October 25, 2014.){{cite web|author= |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/news/frank-schaefer-pennsylvania-pastor-who-performed-same-sex-marriage-keeps-ordination/ |title=Frank Schaefer, Pennsylvania pastor who performed same-sex marriage, keeps ordination |work=CBS News |date=2014-10-27 |access-date=2015-08-19}}{{cite web|author=Emma Margolin |url=http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/refrocked-pastor-frank-schaefer-speaks-out-trial |title='Refrocked' pastor: I will never be afraid again to speak out |publisher=MSNBC |date=2014-10-23 |access-date=2015-08-19}}

Speaking engagements and activism

While defrocked, Schaefer became a speaker and activist. He continues to advocate for human rights while also working in a new United Methodist parish in Isla Vista, California.{{cn|date=May 2024}}

Publications

=Bibliography=

  • Franklyn Schaefer: Defrocked: How A Father's Act of Love Shook the United Methodist Church, Autobiography, paperback (with Sherri Wood Emmons), Chalice Press, 2014. {{ISBN|978-0827244993}}

=Filmography=

Schaefer has been interviewed on the TV shows Good Morning America, The View, Hardball with Chris Matthews, Anderson Cooper 360°, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, and TakePart Live, and for the documentary An Act of Love.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm6336562/?ref_=fn_al_nm_1|title = Frank Schaefer| website=IMDb }}

=Discography=

  • Franklyn Schaefer: Guitar Reflections: Then & Now, audio CD (instrumental, folk) JavaCasa Music, 2013.
  • Franklyn Schaefer: Love Like An Ocean, audio CD (Contemporary Christian) JavaCasa Music, 2011.
  • Franklyn Schaefer: Keep On Smiling, audio CD (Contemporary Country) JavaCasa Music, 2008.

References

{{Reflist}}