Retired bishop, pastor defy United Methodist Church, officiates gay wedding

A bishop and a pastor could face disciplinary measures from the United Methodist Church for having officiated a same-sex wedding over the weekend.

"We are aware of the wedding at First United Methodist Church on Saturday," a spokesperson told The Charlotte Observer. "Bishop Goodpaster will follow the procedures in The Book of Discipline if a formal complaint is filed."

Bishop Larry Goodpaster leads the Western North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Same-sex marriages are prohibited based on the UMC Book of Discipline, but the leadership board reportedly voted in August that, regardless of whether it breaks the rules or not, any member of the church could get married. Many UMC ministers in the United States are said to be tolerant or even amenable to same-sex unions, but in more conservative congregations in many parts of the world, it is not accepted, and proposed changes to the rules are strongly opposed.

Bishop Melvin Talbert and senior pastor Val Rosenquist officiated the wedding of Jim Wilborne and John Romano on Saturday, because both believe that doing otherwise would be an act of discrimination.

"Discrimination is discrimination, no matter where it is, and it's wrong. I hope that what we did here yesterday will be an act of evangelism for people ... who are looking for safe places to come because they don't want to be identified with anti-gay [sentiment]."

The 81-year-old retired bishop, who shared three days and nights of jail time with Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1960, has campaigned against discrimination for a long time. His stance on same-sex marriage, he said, is an act of "biblical obedience."

Acknowledging what could happen to them, he said on Sunday to the congregation at the First United Methodist Church in Charlotte, North Carolina: "Your pastor could have complaints filed against her, and I could, too. ... But it's the right thing to do. If it costs us, if there are consequences, so let it be."

Rosenquist, meanwhile, said that Book of Discipline has "institutionalized oppression and discrimination."

"These folks are our brothers and sisters," she said, referring to the members of the LGBT community. "It's just a matter of obeying our covenant with one another throughout the church, that we are to minister to all and to treat all the same. I'm just following what I was ordained to do, what I was baptised to do."

The United Methodist Church, along with the Roman Catholic Church and the Southern Baptist Church do not allow same-sex marriages, but the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church U.S.A., as well as the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have already allowed such unions.

The General Conference in Portland, Oregon could be the venue for changes in the UMC rules.