“The UCC started ordaining gay folks in the 1970s,” said Schaffnit, 40, who in 2003 unsuccessfully filed to marry her long-time partner Jeannene Schaffnit at the Greene County courthouse. “I’m sure there are some churches that would be uncomfortable with having an openly gay pastor, but I haven’t found it to be an issue at all at David’s.”
Even so, Schaffnit may be the first open lesbian to be installed at a mainline church in the Dayton area, making her a pioneer, said the Rev. Mike Castle of Cross Creek Community Church, United Church of Christ, in Centerville.
“She had two glass ceilings,” said Castle, who is openly gay. “One was being a woman clergy, and the other was being a lesbian-woman clergy.”
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