A Nazarene pastor has lost his credential to preach after a church jury convicted him of supporting same-sex marriage, which is contrary to the Church of the Nazarene manual about human sexuality.

A seven-man, two-woman jury voted 9-0 on Aug. 14 to convict Rev. Selden Dee Kelley III (above), of being “out of harmony with the Church of the Nazarene’s doctrine, teaching, beliefs, and practices,” according to the verdict form that cites Nazarene Manual 31.

Kelley, who is in his 60s, has been senior pastor of First Church of the Nazarene for 17 years at Point Loma Nazarene University and is popular on campus.

Kelley said he would file an appeal that goes to another board within the Nazarene denomination at its headquarters in Kansas City.

The verdict form also says Kelley “publicly advocates beliefs that are unorthodox” and that “we require the surrender of his credential.”

Kelley argued for an acquittal, saying his beliefs were not unorthodox. “The manual doesn’t require that every thought I hold be in compliance with the doctrines of the Church of the Nazarene,” argued Kelley, adding that what he teaches is in harmony with the church.

Dean Nelson, a church board member and journalism professor at PLNU, said the church board supports Kelley 100% and voted to continue his salary while on appeal.

Nelson said the board voted to continue allowing him and his wife to live in the Nazarene parsonage in Point Loma so they would not have to move out immediately. “For now, we wanted to make sure he was cared for,” said Nelson.

“All he did was ask for better dialogue on the topic of same-sex marriage,” said Nelson. “It’s been an outrageous several months. Classic fear and witch-hunt stuff. Shameful.

“This could have been avoided by having some grown-up discussion that would have been difficult, but healthy,” said Nelson. “Did we do that? Nope. The church hierarchy chose to draw the curtains around themselves and hope the problems would go away.

“This was a colossal failure of imagination. Both the Old and New Testaments say over and over, ‘Fear not.’ But the church chose fear,” said Nelson.

The trial, which was held at the Holiday Inn in Point Loma, began Aug. 11 and lasted two days. Kelley represented himself and pleaded not guilty. Approximately 60 supporters of Kelley accompanied him and his wife to the conference room where it was held.

Section 31 of the Nazarene manual reads: “God’s intention for our sexuality is to be lived out in the covenantal union between one woman and one man. We believe the practice of same-sex intimacy is contrary to God’s will for human sexuality.

“While a person’s homosexual or bi-sexual attraction may have complex and differing origins, and the implication of this call to sexual purity is costly, we believe the grace of God is sufficient for such a calling,” states Section 31.

Section 31 suggests that LGBTQ Christians should follow a calling to abstain from sex for life, even if they are married to a same-sex partner if they want to be a member of the Church of the Nazarene.

No witnesses were called to testify except for Kelley speaking for himself. The key piece of evidence was a three-page essay Kelley wrote in the book, “Why the Church of the Nazarene Should be Fully LGBTQ+ Affirming.”

That book was published in April and was edited by Nazarene theologian Thomas Oord and his daughter Alexa Oord. It contained essays from 90 people who wrote about observations of being rejected from the Church of the Nazarene because of being LGBTQ.

Some of the essays were also written by pastors or instructors from other Nazarene colleges. Some had different interpretations of the story of Sodom and Gomorrah and other Bible verses. No other author in this book has been charged by the church so far.

Kelley, whose essay was titled “A Hope for Change,” wrote he realized he could not perform same-sex marriages or even hold same-sex receptions in a Nazarene church.

“When two people love one another and want to make the world a better place by living out that love in lifetime union with one another… I find it irrational and unscriptural to turn them away,” wrote Kelley.

“There are certainly many same-sex couples who are doing more to create a just and loving world than I am,” wrote Kelley.

“I am not asking that everyone (or anyone) within the church agree with me on my understanding of scripture, just that there be room in the church for those of us who are passionate about the sacredness of scripture but land in a different place in our interpretations,” wrote Kelley.

“One of the primary reasons for writing this brief essay is to encourage further dialogue among the clergy concerning LGBTQIA+ issues,” wrote Kelley.

Reaction to the verdict was furious with people posting on Facebook and elsewhere.

“The church violated their own rules in an effort to silence a movement and a pastor who just asked for a dialogue,” wrote Michelle Knotts Gill, who described it as “a kangaroo court.”

“The church has sinned against this pastor and more broadly against our queer siblings,” added Knotts Gill.

“These people absolutely hung him out to dry every step of the way,” wrote Craig Keen, a retired theology professor, calling Kelley “a martyr.”

“As a third-generation Nazarene whose dad was a pastor, this all makes me physically sick. This is so wrong on so many levels,” wrote a woman named Becky.

“I am aghast, ashamed, inflamed, and riddled with a massive sense of protestive injustice at the most recent situation with Pastor Dee,” wrote Lionel Yetter, a Nazarene minister’s son who attended PLNU in the 1970s.

Yetter posted an image of Nazarene founder Phineas F. Bresee on a website, and put the words, “You brood of vipers” coming from him.

A PLNU faculty member, who asked not to be identified, said “A culture of fear” has arisen as a result of this prosecution of Pastor Kelley. People are afraid of being fired, he said.

One retired pastor said Kelley simply challenged other pastors’ positions on same-sex marriage too much and they didn’t like it. There were two signed complaints of other pastors entered into the trial record, and Kelley said he had never spoken with one of them and had never discussed this topic with the other.

Two PLNU faculty members in 2023 were allegedly fired because they affirmed the LGBTQ community, according to Lauren Cazares, the founder of the Loma LGBTQIA+ Alumni & Allies Coalition, in a press release.

PLNU disputes that allegation the professors were terminated for that reason and will not say why they are no longer teaching because it is a personnel matter and private.

Melissa Tucker graduated from PLNU and earned her master’s degree at PLNU before she was hired as an instructor in 2015.

Tucker left in January 2023 and accepted a pastoral position at the Normal Heights United Methodist Church. She previously worked with Kelley at First Church.

Also dismissed was Dr. Mark Maddix, a theology professor, whose last day of teaching was on March 15.

Maddix sent out some emails in support of Tucker, which drew the wrath of the academic dean for “insubordination” and communicating with other faculty members about a personnel matter, according to a press release by Cazares.

The academic dean also denied firing Maddix in an interview with The Point, the college newspaper and insisted that Maddix was only suspended.

Maddix hired an attorney, but no lawsuit against the university as of Aug. 25 has yet to be processed in San Diego Superior Court records. Maddix himself says he was fired.

Kelley faced controversy before in 2011 when Todd Clayton, then 21, was the elected student chaplain and he spoke at First Church in a press conference when he came out of the closet.

This had never occurred before at the conservative university in which someone in the elected student body announced they were gay. There was a lot of controversy. Kelley allowed Clayton to hold the press conference at First Church because there was more room.

Student conduct rules specify that all students must be celibate. Clayton said he was reminded he must abstain from sex, and he learned the rules were modified to include a ban on same-sex kisses and hugs.

Clayton’s mother was on the board of directors for the college and his father was a Nazarene pastor. Clayton is now an attorney.

A curious coincidence with the number 31 is unintentionally humorous to some.

In the “Star Trek” fictional universe, Section 31 is an underhanded, mysterious rogue element of the United Federation of Planets that uses questionable methods, including assassination, to keep the peace in the galaxy.

The methods of Section 31 agents involved deception, kidnapping, sabotage, and biological warfare, and “many fans felt Section 31 betrayed the value system created by Gene Roddenberry(creator of Star Trek),” said Star Trek writer David Weddle, according to Wikipedia.

“The Star Trek reference is apt,” said Dean Nelson, when told about the Section 31 comparison.

“It’s all so unnecessary, rooted in fear of ‘the other.’ For Jesus, though, there is no such thing as an ‘other,’ said Nelson. “Funny how the hierarchy misses that.”

After same-sex marriage became the law of the land by the U.S. Supreme Court, PLNU ended all on-campus weddings in 2015, apparently so same-sex weddings could not be performed on campus.

In 2016, the university donated $50,000 to fight SB 1146, a measure that aimed to protect LGBTQ students at religious institutions.

The Church of the Nazarene started in 1908 when Bresee and other co-founders broke off from the Methodist denomination in the Wesleyan Holiness Movement with an emphasis on the religious experience called sanctification.

There are 23,803 Nazarene churches today worldwide with approximately 2.66 million members, according to the Church of the Nazarene, which operates numerous colleges and missionary work.

The denomination is famous or infamously remembered for rules against dancing, drinking alcohol, card playing, attending movies, pre-marital sex, adultery, and any type of same-sex expression.

Some of these rules have been relaxed but drinking and unmarried sexual expression is still heavily discouraged. There also used to be bans on women wearing pants, jewelry, and make-up.