Pastor Joseph Fuiten, who publicly dissented from fellow religious conservatives over whether to try to get Referendum 71 on the November ballot, is now back in the fold.

In his Pastor's Picks of endorsements, he recommends rejecting Referendum 71, which asks voters to approve or reject a recent expansion of the state's domestic partnership law adding certain benefits -- mostly work-related -- to those already conferred on registered same-sex and senior domestic couples. A vote to approve the referendum keeps the expanded benefits on the books; a vote to reject nullifies them.

Fuiten had opposed the effort to get Ref. 71 on the ballot, saying the timing wasn't right and he didn't want the church to be viewed as oppressive. But he has always been against gay marriage, believing that marriage should be between one man and one woman.

"I haven't changed my opinion that I wish we weren't doing it. But since we are, I am going to vote to reject," he said.

Fuiten, senior pastor at Cedar Park Assembly of God Church in Bothell, also recommended voting yes on Initiative 1033, which limits revenue increases for state and local governments to the rate of inflation and population growth. And he has endorsed Susan Hutchison for King County Executive.

Fuiten has issued his Pastor's Picks (www.pastorspicks.com) for years. He emphasizes they are his personal recommendations, not those of the church or denomination.