United Methodist top court to review case of lesbian
pastor
July 27, 2005
A UMNS Report
By Neill Caldwell*
The case of the Rev. Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud — who underwent a church
trial last year after disclosing that she is a lesbian — tops the fall docket
for the United Methodist Church’s supreme court.
The Stroud case is one of 14 items on the docket for the United Methodist
Judicial Council’s Oct. 26-29 meeting in Houston.
Stroud, an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church of Germantown in
Philadelphia, had lost her clergy credentials following a December church trial,
but she was reinstated by an appellate court of the denomination’s Northeastern
Jurisdiction on April 29. United Methodist Church law forbids the participation
of “self-avowed practicing” homosexuals in the ordained ministry. Stroud
admitted in a 2003 sermon and in a letter to her congregation that she was “a
lesbian living in a committed relationship with a partner.”
The appeals court, voting 8-1, said it overruled the church trial verdict
because of two legal errors, while noting that it found “overwhelming” evidence
in support of the charge against Stroud. The court said no body of the church
had defined the words “practicing homosexual” and “status.” The word “status”
appears in the church constitution as part of an anti-discrimination clause,
which states that the benefits of membership in the church are guaranteed to
“all persons without regard to race, color, national origin, status or economic
conditions ...” Stroud’s supporters argued that homosexuality falls under the
“status” designation.
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Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud |
Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud |
The appellate court also said that a key statement in church law — “the
practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings” — is a
doctrinal statement and not an ethical rule for clergy, and should not be
applied to Stroud.
“I expected that my case would go to the Judicial Council,” Stroud wrote on
her Web site. “It is a case that could have implications for the entire church,
and so it is only right for the church's highest judicial body to review it.”
Stroud is on voluntary leave of absence as clergy and is serving as a lay
pastor at First Church of Germantown.
The Judicial Council will hold a public hearing on the Stroud case at 9 a.m.
Oct. 27 in the Stansbury Building of the Westchase Campus of First United
Methodist Church in Houston. Representatives of Stroud and the Eastern
Pennsylvania Annual (regional) Conference, where she has her membership and
underwent trial, will have 30 minutes each to present oral arguments. Afterward,
the court will begin deliberations.
The court is reviewing the Stroud case following an appeal by the Eastern
Pennsylvania Conference. In its filing, the conference cited Paragraph 2609.8 of
the 2000 Book of Discipline and asserted that the decision of the
Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals “appears to be at variance with
the Book of Discipline and prior Judicial Council decisions.”
The Rev. Keith Boyette, Judicial Council secretary, said that despite the
high profile of the Stroud case, the Judicial Council will not deviate from its
standard procedure for reporting its decisions, meaning it will not make a
public announcement at the conclusion of the fall session. The council’s
decisions typically are released very shortly after the session and posted on
UMC.org, the Web site of the United Methodist Church.
Stroud’s trial followed that of another lesbian pastor in 2004. In that case,
a panel of 13 ministers acquitted the Rev. Karen Dammann of Ellensburg, Wash.,
after a three-day trial that gained national attention.
Because the jury in the Dammann case said it had found contradictory passages
about homosexuality in the church’s Book of Discipline, several petitions
were passed at the 2004 General Conference to clarify and strengthen the rules.
Delegates to the assembly voted 579-376 to declare that “The United Methodist
Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this
practice incompatible with Christian teaching.” Meeting at that same time, the
Judicial Council ruled a public declaration of active homosexuality is a
“chargeable offense” for United Methodist clergy. The council also said it
lacked authority to review the Dammann verdict.
Two other items on the council’s fall docket are related to issues
surrounding homosexuality. Both concern decisions of law by Bishop Charlene
Kammerer in the Virginia Conference regarding a pastor who was placed on
involuntary leave at the June 13 clergy session of annual conference.
The Rev. Edward Johnson of South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church was
suspended for refusing to admit a gay person into membership at the church.
Paragraph 214 of the 2004 Book of Discipline, addressing eligibility in a
congregation, states that “all persons may attend its worship services,
participate in its programs, receive the sacraments and become members in any
local church in the connection.”
In other cases, the Judicial Council will:
- Consider another request from the West Michigan Annual Conference for a
ruling on the addition of domestic partner benefits to the conference’s
health benefits plan.
- Review of a bishop’s decision of law in the Rocky Mountain Annual
Conference concerning conference structure modification.
- Consider a question from the Minnesota Annual Conference on the treatment
of a supervisory file by annual conference officers.
- Review a bishop’s decisions of law in the Pacific Northwest Annual
Conference related to the adoption of a petition titled, “Affirming Our
Unity Amongst Diversity of Opinion.”
- Address a question from the Tennessee Annual Conference on the allocation
by the General Conference secretary of additional (at-large) members of
general program boards and general agencies.
- Review the revised structures of both the Louisiana and
Baltimore-Washington annual conferences.
- Respond to a request from the Northern Illinois Annual Conference
regarding disabled accessibility in local church and district facilities.
- Consider an item from the Alabama-West Florida Annual Conference dealing
with the leave of absence of a newly commissioned person preparing for
ordination as a deacon.
Anyone who wants to comment on a matter before the Judicial Council may
submit a brief. The submission of a brief does not make one a party to the
proceeding. Briefs should be sent to Boyette at 10501 Plank Road, Spotsylvania,
VA 22553, for receipt on or before Aug. 29. Ten signed copies of each brief must
be submitted. In addition, an electronic copy in either Microsoft Word or Corel
WordPerfect format must be filed with the secretary at
judicialcouncil@umc.org if
possible.
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