Two Mennonite conferences are to review the credentials of Assembly Mennonite Church Pastor Karl Shelly who in May presided over a same-sex wedding in violation of the church’s rules
The Mennonite church is set to review the credentials of Pastor Karl Shelly who in May presided over a same-sex wedding in violation of the church’s rules, reports The Michigan City News-Dispatch.
Mennonite church guidelines state that pastors may not perform a same-sex covenant ceremony. Because the church has a strong focus on social justice issues, many members view its non-recognition of same-sex marriage as incompatible with its identity as a whole.
Shelly wrote in a statement submitted to the Indiana-Michigan Mennonite conference that he performed the service after determining that "being born with a same-sex sexual orientation and entering into a life-long covenant of fidelity and love with another human being is not sin.”
Mennonite Central District Conference minister Lois Johns Kauffmann said that although the body once before reviewed a pastor who performed a same-sex marriage ceremony, the credentials were not revoked.
According to Nancy Kauffman, denominational minister for Mennonite Church USA, a debate on whether the church should allow same-sex covenant ceremonies is likely to arise at the national assembly next year.
Back in June, Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia said that it would defer its decision on hiring gay faculty while the Eastern Mennonite University community continued its “discernment of human sexuality."
Watch Pastor Shelly speak about Assembly Mennonite Church's journey to becoming a member of the LGBT-affirming Supportive Communities Network, AFTER THE JUMP…
