There are other articles on this boy out there and all of the refer to the pastor as “her husband” and not as a father.
Seems like a very very low probability he is the father.
Which begs the question where the father went and why he allows this.
Good question.
I have yet to see one of these stories that doesn't feature a crazy adult, such as this mother who thinks that a 2-year-old's liking purple things means that he "is really a girl."
The urge to whomp these people upside the head with a two-by-four is very strong. Ooops, does that mean I'm "really a man"? Let me check the latest gender-enforcement memo ...
The father is a Lutheran Pastor and is all in on this. He heartily approves. Who knows, it might have been his idea, or might have been the idea of his rural New Jersey hippy wife.