Last year, even before the U.S. Supreme Court announced its Obergefell v. Hodges decision that legalized same-sex marriage, Christian Family Coalition (CFC) Florida launched a series of statewide Marriage Protection Conferences (MPCs) to teach pastors how to legally protect themselves from having to conduct same-sex marriages in their churches. A new Florida law passed in March has prompted them to convene again with a Pastor Protection Conference planned for May 9^th in Fort Lauderdale.

“The purpose of these conferences was to teach the clergy in Florida how to legally update their internal documents, such as corporate papers, bylaws and constitutions, as well as enact marriage policies to legally protect themselves from having to conduct or solemnize same-sex marriages in their churches should they be sued for refusing to do so.  As a result, in 2015 CFC Florida held nine MPCs and trained over 1,000 pastors. This year we’re back on the road again,” stated Anthony Verdugo, founder and executive director, Christian Family Coalition (CFC) Florida.

After the CFC’s successful statewide series of Marriage Protection Conferences (MPCs) concluded in October 2015, Florida legislators filed a bill known as the Florida Pastor Protection Act (FPPA), to legislatively protect pastors from being sued for refusing to conduct or solemnize same-sex marriages.  The bill was approved by the Florida legislature and signed by Governor Rick Scott on March 10th.

“Now that the Florida Pastor Protection Act (FPPA) has been approved and signed by the Governor, CFC Florida will host a new series of statewide conferences in 2016 known as the Pastor Protection Conference (PPC), to educate the Florida clergy on what the FPPA actually does and does not do, and how to make sure they qualify for these new statewide protections.

The first PPC was held on April 15 in Miami-Dade County with over 150 pastors in attendance.  The next conference will be held in Broward County on Monday, May 9th at Redeeming Word Christian Center International (RWCCI) located at 2800 West Prospect Road in Fort Lauderdale..

All conferences are free of charge; however, if you plan on attending, you must register at  cfcflorida.net.