This post has been updated
Here’s a sad story:
(RNS) -- The Reformed Church in America's New Brunswick Theological Seminary, one of the nation's oldest schools for training mainline Protestant clergy, has retired its president, the Rev. Norman Kansfield, and reprimanded him for officiating at his gay daughter's wedding.
Kanfield's daughter, Ann, is a financial writer and editor for the UCC-related United Church Foundation in New York.
The board of trustees of the New Brunswick, N.J.-based school implied in an earlier statement that the wedding wasn't a factor in its decision not to renew the Kansfield's contract. But on Feb. 10, a board spokesman and Kansfield confirmed that the ceremony, which was conducted in Massachusetts, precipitated the decision.
"We decided that the president had put the seminary in an awkward position by performing that ceremony without giving us the benefit of offering sufficient counsel," said the Rev. Larry Williams Sr., a member speaking on the board's behalf. "It could have hurt the school if it divided people in our student body, if it divided our faculty, if it divided other people who support us."
Showing love for a daughter and abiding by Jesus’ theology of open table cost Rev. Kansfield his position. His actions should be a model for all parents – and all Christians. Maybe someone can find Rev. Kansfield a position in the UCC.
Update: Check out the new Friends of Norm web site.
