By JAMES MILLS

Last updated at 07:14 24 October 2007

They are devoted foster

parents with an

unblemished record of caring for

almost 30 vulnerable

children.

But Vincent and Pauline

Matherick will this week

have their latest foster son

taken away because they

have refused to sign new

sexual equality regulations.

To do so, they claim, would

force them to promote

homosexuality and go against their

Christian faith.

The 11-year-old boy, who

has been in their care for two

years, will be placed in a

council hostel this week and

the Mathericks will no longer

be given children to look

after.

The devastated couple, who

have three grown up children

of their own, became foster

parents in 2001 and have since

cared for 28 children at their

home in Chard, Somerset.

Earlier this year, Somerset

County Council's social

services department asked them

to sign a contract to

implement Labour's new Sexual

Orientation Regulations, part of

the Equality Act 2006, which

make discrimination on the

grounds of sexuality illegal.

Officials told the couple that

under the regulations they

would be required to discuss

same-sex relationships with

children as young as 11 and tell

them that gay partnerships

were just as acceptable as

heterosexual marriages.

They could also be required

to take teenagers to gay

association meetings.

When the Mathericks

objected, they were told they

would be taken off the register

of foster parents.

The Mathericks have decided

to resign rather than face the

humiliation of being expelled.

Mr Matherick, a 65-year-old

retired travel agent and a

primary school governor, said: "I

simply could not agree to do it

because it is against my

central beliefs.

"We have never discriminated

against anybody but I cannot

preach the benefits of

homosexuality when I believe it is

against the word of God."

Mrs Matherick, 61, said they

had asked if they could continue looking after their foster

son until he is found a

permanent home, but officials

refused and he will be placed

in a council hostel on Friday.

She said: "He was very upset

to begin with. We are all very

close, but he's a mature young

man and he's dealing with it."

The couple, who have six

grandchildren and one

greatgrandchild, are both ministers

at the nonconformist South

Chard Christian Church.

When they first started

fostering they took in young

single mothers and their babies.

More recently they have been

caring for children of primary

school age.

Mr Matherick added: "It's

terrible that we've been forced

into this corner. It just should

not happen.

"There are not enough foster

carers around anyway without

these rules.

"They were saying

that we had to be prepared to

talk about sexuality with 11-year-olds, which I don't think is

appropriate anyway, but not

only that, to be prepared to

explain how gay people date.

"They said we would even have

to take a teenager to gay

association meetings.

"How can I do

that when it's totally against

what I believe?"

Religious campaigners say

the couple are the latest

victims of an equality drive which

puts gay rights above religious

beliefs.

Christian, Jewish and Muslim

leaders have complained that the rules force them to

overturn long-held beliefs.

The Mathericks are planning

to fight their case in the courts

with the backing of the

Lawyers' Christian Fellowship.

The same organisation is

backing Christian magistrate

Andrew McClintock who

resigned from the family courts

in a row over gay adoption.

He says he was forced to

resign because he was not

allowed to opt out of cases

where he might have to send a

child to live with gay parents.

The Mathericks' case comes

at a time when there is a

chronic shortage of foster

parents, who work on a voluntary

basis.

An extra 8,000 are

needed to plug the gaps in the

service.

Researchers have found that

continually moving children

from home to home can have a

devastating impact on their

education and general welfare.

But a report last year

revealed that the shortage of

carers meant that some

children in care are being forced to

move up to three times a year.

David Taylor, Somerset County

Council's corporate director for

children and young people, said: "No decision has been made

about the deregistration of Mr

and Mrs Matherick.

"The council is committed to

promoting the interests of

children and young people and

welcomes foster carers from all

backgrounds and faiths."