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| Pastor Frank Schaefer |
The jury was not going to punish Pastor Frank. Whatever consequence he suffered would be his own choice.
In effect, the jury's sentence said: We aren't going to punish you; you have to decide if you are going to punish yourself. We aren't going to do anything bad to you; you have to decide if you are going to do something bad to yourself.
I'm sure it helped the jury members feel better about themselves. You could almost see them washing their hands.
This spin is articulated in a comment on the Good News Movement's webpage:
The Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference must have affirmation that they rendered the correct verdict; as Good News affirms that rendering. They did so with compassion and a time for renewal and deliberation for Rev. Schaefer. His outcome is now at his own discretion and he will own that decision.The verdict was so well spun that it is hard to believe a professional was not involved in spinning it.
Today the Board of Ordained Ministry of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the United Methodist Church took away Pastor Frank's ordination. The board defrocked him. They terminated his ministry.
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| Comment found here |
The jury's sentence said that Pastor Frank had 30-days to agree to follow the United Methodist Book of Discipline "in its entirety" or to surrender his credentials.
Many people urged Pastor Frank to say he would follow the Book of Discipline in its entirety. After all, as Rev. Andy Bryan has pointed out, to follow some provisions of the Book of Discipline you have to ignore others. Or you need to read them as though consistency does not matter.
To his credit, Pastor Frank refused to go this route. He said plainly that he would not follow rules in the Book of Discipline that discriminate against LGBTQ persons.
He also said that he would not voluntarily surrender his credentials as the jury's sentence instructed him to do. Three United Methodist bishops contacted him, he said, and urged him not to voluntarily surrender his credentials.
This morning in a meeting with the Board of Ordained Ministry when he refused to surrender his ordination credentials, the board "deemed them surrendered."
United Methodist News Service, the official news service of the United Methodist Church, reported the following statement by Bishop Peggy Johnson of the Philadelphia Episcopal Area:
Johnson said when asked to surrender his credentials, Schaefer refused to do so. The board then deemed his credentials surrendered, she said.The board did not take away Pastor Frank's credentials. The board did not invalidate Pastor Frank's ordination.The board did not defrock Pastor Frank. The board did not terminate his ministry.
The board didn't do anything to Pastor Frank. The board just "deemed his credentials surrendered."
This is well-done spin. The board did not harm Pastor Frank. The board just deemed that he had done something he did not do. The board deemed, I guess, that he had mystically surrendered his credentials.
It is like someone taking money from your wallet and then deeming that you had given the money to them.
Pastor Frank has been clear, direct, upfront and self-differentiated. He will not discriminate against LGBT people in his ministry. He will not voluntarily surrender his credentials.
The jury and the Board of Ordained Ministry have done what they have done. They have decided to take away his credentials, to negate his ordination, to end his service as a United Methodist pastor.
Only they have not been willing to say so directly and clearly.
They have tried to spin it.
When I did communications for a living, I used to say that the best spin is the God's honest truth.
I still believe it.
I have a lot of respect for Pastor Frank's honesty and clarity.
The jury and the board ... not so much.
The
Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference must have affirmation that they
rendered the correct verdict; as Good News affirms that rendering. They
did so with compassion and a time for renewal and deliberation for Rev.
Schaefer. His outcome is now at his own discretion and he will own
that decision. - See more at:
http://goodnewsmag.org/2013/11/good-news-response-to-schaefer-trial-verdict/#comment-3115
Dean: I believe you have correctly described what has actually transpired here. In fact, I believe this is the best issue that Frank has on appeal to the Judicial Council. The trial court in this case basically abrogated their responsibility. But they can't do that. That's the whole point of a trial court...to *make a decision* one way or the other.
ReplyDeleteIt's very clear in their decision 30-days ago, and in the language of the BOM and Bishop today, that they did NOT make a decision. They assumed that Rev. Shaefer did that.
That's a violation of process, and clearly something that can be appealed here, it seems to me. I trust this will be the heart of what Frank will do next.
Thanks for calling out the spin.
They could no more wash their hands than Pilate could:
ReplyDeleteWashing His Hands – v3
Unable to remove the stain. the long-held objection
trying to put it on them as if he was an innocent
unable to stop the tide while he held the power
this man of the center, the face of power
wanting to wash his hands to remove responsibility
the voice of Caesar, the Roman Empire
in that holy, troubled land, Israel, Canaan,
the city of David, Jerusalem
Can you see him, through history, a specter,
a soul yet wandering, between heaven and hell
over and over he must have washed his hands
trying to remove the stain, the tattoo of innocent blood
blood he allowed to be spilt, blood of a king
given for his people, those who knew his name
whose oil was kept full, who knew more than anything else
they needed his gift, his boundless mercy, his ultimate sacrifice
His wife knew too, something was wrong, something very wrong
to shed this pure, clean blood, untainted by human sin
a human life lived godly, that should have been proof enough
especially to those vacillating, questioning twelve, disciples,
How could they go through three years of teaching, of learning,
of watching him, his actions, his compassion, his humanness,
his divinity, his pure love, his sinlessness, and not knowning
He was God; how could Pilate let the rabble dictate the death
of an innocent life, a man that did not threaten Rome
to sacrifice, to hang on the cross, instead of Barrabas
Washing his hands, no that didn’t truly clear his stain
that he must have carried, he must carry still, yet, unfinished
a soul yet wandering, between heaven and hell
like the Master knew, and wrote so well
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Edited December 11, 2013