EARLE CORNELIUS

ECORNELIUS@LNPNEWS.COM

As the son of a United Methodist minister, documentary filmmaker Scott Sheppard knows what it’s like to grow up in a small-town church.

But he was shocked in 2013 when he read about the trial and defrocking of the Rev. Frank Schaefer for officiating at his son Tim’s same-sex marriage.

At the time, Schaefer was pastor at Zion United Methodist Church of Iona in Lebanon.

“It opened my eyes to a side of the United Methodist Church I didn’t know existed,” he said earlier this week from his home in Los Angeles.

That led Sheppard on a two-year mission to chronicle Schaefer’s personal story as well as the division within the United Methodist Church over homosexuality.

His film, “An Act of Love,” will be shown at 6 p.m. Sunday at Otterbein United Methodist Church, 20 E. Clay St. The film is free and open to the public. A discussion will follow.

With 12 million members, the United Methodist Church is the world’s second-largest Protestant denomination. It does not ordain gay or lesbian pastors nor does it permit pastors to officiate same-sex weddings.

Interfaith group

The film is sponsored locally by Embrace, an interfaith group of straight and gay laity and clergy from the Lancaster area. Mark Stoner, vice chairman of Embrace, described it as “a great vehicle for people to discuss the issue.”

The screening is one of more than 80 that have been held or are scheduled in advance of the United Methodist Church’s 2016 General Conference in Portland, Oregon, next month.

“It is a documentary about the division within the United Methodist Church over same-sex marriage and ordination of gay clergy,” Sheppard said, “and it centers on one family’s struggle.”

Sheppard said the film has taken on added importance given the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling last June validating same-sex marriage.

“Now that there is national marriage equality,” he said, “every pastor in the United States must decide if he or she is willing to marry gay couples. I thought the film was a good way to shed light on this.”

The film’s website, anactoflovefilm.com, states: “Simply put, we want this film to reach as many Christian communities — liberal, conservative and everywhere in between — as possible. The conversation about LGBTQ rights within religious communities has often caused pain and division. With this film we hope to bring all sides together to see the human side of this debate through the stories of those who have had to deal with the real consequences of their community’s stance on this issue.”

As a pastor’s son, Sheppard said he could relate to Tim Schaefer.

“I grew up in rural Michigan,” he said. “Tim’s story made me look back on my childhood. I thought ‘What if I were gay?’ ’’

“When your parent is in the clergy,” Sheppard said, “there are unspoken expectations that your parent will officiate at your wedding.”

By performing his son’s same-sex marriage, however, Schaefer violated the United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline. He did so, he has repeatedly said, out of his love for his son.

“I could not have denied him and wouldn’t have wanted to,” Schaefer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution prior to his hearing before the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church in 2014.

Reinstated

Schaefer was defrocked when he refused to promise he would never perform another same-sex marriage but was eventually reinstated by the Judicial Council.

Shortly after Schaefer’s reinstatement, some churches left the denomination.

Bishop Peggy Johnson of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, said there are a variety of “theological perspectives on issues around human sexuality and same-gender marriage.

“As United Methodists,” she wrote in an email, “we strive to maintain the unity of the church in the midst of diversity of thought and interpretation of the Scriptures.”

The Rev. Andrea Brown, lead pastor at Grandview United Methodist Church in Manheim Township, who attended Schaefer’s trial and saw an early screening, described the film as “very moving.”

“It takes (Schaefer’s) point of view,” she said, “but it does a good job of letting both sides speak. It’s not one-sided.”

Some have accused Schaefer of using the publicity for his personal benefit. They point to photos of Schaefer at international film festivals with Sheppard and actor Pauley Perrette of the TV series NCIS, who is the executive producer of “An Act of Love.”

Sheppard disagrees.

“He was very reluctant to make the film,” Sheppard said. “He didn’t think there was enough there for a film.”

Schaefer, he said, also realized that raising his profile represented a risk for both him and his family.

He changed his mind after Sheppard said the film would also focus on the larger divisions within the church.

Copies of the film have been sent to a number of United Methodist Church delegates who will be participating in the General Conference. Sheppard said he wants delegates who are deciding the church’s policies toward the LGBT community to at least have an opportunity to view the film prior to the conference.

“I’m not trying to sway the vote,” he said. “I want them to see it with an open mind.”

What to Read Next