SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — A San Diego pastor is out of a job after taking a stance on same-sex marriage in an essay he says he wrote earlier in the year.
In an email, Seldon 'Dee' Kelley III confirmed to ABC 10News that he's been the pastor of the San Diego First Church of the Nazarene for the last 17 years.
On Monday, he says he was told he'd been found in violation of denominational clergy standards for an essay he wrote back in February.
In a statement, a board member for the local church says the essay from Kelley called for better dialogue on how to address human sexuality issues, particularly same-sex marriage.
The board member, Dr. Dean Nelson, says the congregation is overwhelmingly behind Reverend Kelley and his 'Christ-like' ministry.
Kelley says the decision to remove him was a result of a judiciary process, which he says resulted in losing his standings as a minister within the church, no longer eligible to serve as a pastor to the local church.
He says the judicial process was started by clergy outside of the local church.
ABC 10News reached out to the regional board of discipline multiple times over the course of two days about their decision on Pastor Kelley and so far haven't heard back.
Kelley says he is eligible to appeal the decision and, for that reason, did not wish to comment further.
