Scores of United Methodist Church ministers in California are putting their careers on the line in an open revolt against religious edicts that forbid them to conduct weddings for gay and lesbian couples.
The pastors could lose their jobs and clerical credentials in the church, the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.
Ministers in Santa Monica, Claremont, Walnut Creek and other cities have already performed ceremonies for gays and lesbians or are planning to do so.
In addition, 82 retired pastors in Northern California signed a resolution in June offering to perform such weddings on behalf of ministers who feel they can't do so themselves.
Pastors have been emboldened by United Methodist assemblies in California that declared their support last month for the state Supreme Court's recent ruling overturning a ban on same-sex marriage.
The regional assemblies -- composed of lay leaders and clergy from California and other states -- also urged pastors and congregations to "welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture" for gay couples.
Defenders of gay marriage say they want to compel the 11-million-member denomination to live up to its slogan -- "Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors."
"I'm tired of being part of a church that lacks integrity," said the Rev. Janet Gollery McKeithen of Santa Monica's Church in Ocean Park, who plans to conduct weddings for two gay couples in August and September. "I love my church, and I don't want to leave it. But I can't be part of a church that is willing to portray a God that is so hateful. I would rather be forced out."
The two bishops who oversee United Methodist churches in California -- Mary Ann Swenson and Beverly J. Shamana -- have cautioned ministers against taking matters into their own hands.
Conducting same-sex weddings, the bishops have said in correspondence, violates provisions in the Book of Discipline, which lays out the laws and guidelines that govern the church. Under church rules, bishops and others are required to investigate complaints that can be filed by any church member.
"Pastors need to know that there are consequences," said Swenson, of the California-Pacific Annual Conference, which covers Southern California, Hawaii, Guam and Saipan. "We are bound to honor the policy of our denomination."
The turmoil in the Methodist church is occurring in variations across the Protestant landscape, with some religious authorities glimpsing what they believe are the seeds of rifts, perhaps even schisms, in mainline denominations.
