Defrocked: How A Father's Act of Love Shook the United Methodist Church

Franklyn Schaefer · Sherri Wood Emmons

Jul 2014 · Chalice Press

About this ebook

In Defrocked, Frank Schaefer tells the story of officiating at his son's same-sex marriage and, six years later, his subsequent trial by a United Methodist court. That trial stripped Schaefer of his ordination after more than 20 years of ministry in the nation's largest mainline Protestant denomination.

About the author

Frank Schaefer is a former ordained minister of United Methodist Church where he ministered for more than 20 years until December 2013. He is married to Brigitte and has four children. He was educated at Princeton Theological Seminary and also earned a CPE degree at Hershey Medical Center's residency program for chaplains. In 2013, Frank Schaefer was tried by a United Methodist court for officiating his son's same-sex marriage and was defrocked over his refusal to uphold the Book of Discipline, which meant virtually to denounce gay marriage rights. Now a United Methodist lay person, speaker and activist, he continues to advocate for human rights. Sherri Wood Emmons is a freelance writer and editor and has published three novels. She is a graduate of Earlham College and the University of Denver Publishing Institute. A mother of three, she lives in Indiana with her husband, two fat beagles, and four spoiled cats.