Rev. Beth Stroud came out to her congregation at the United Methodist
Church of Germantown in Philadelphia two years ago. Last December, a clergy court
convicted her of being a ‘self-avowed practicing homosexual’ and stripped
her of her ministerial credentials. (Photo by Coke Whitworth/AP)
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EARTHA MELZER
Friday, May 06, 2005
The United Methodist Church is headed for a high-level ruling on whether openly
gay clergy will be allowed to serve.
The Executive Committee of the Council of Bishops of the United Methodist Church
decided last week to appeal a lower body’s reversal of a ban on lesbian
Irene Beth Stroud serving as a Methodist minister.
The Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee of Appeals convened at the Sheraton
International Hotel on the grounds of the Baltimore Washington International
Airport on April 28 and heard Stroud’s appeal.
The next day, the committee reversed the church trial court decision that found
Stroud guilty of “violating church law by being a self avowed practicing
homosexual,” which had then led to the revocation of her ministerial credentials
last year.
The appeals committee ruled in favor of Stroud on the procedural grounds that
“practicing homosexual” has never been defined in church law, and
while church law prohibits discrimination based on status, status is also undefined.
The committee wrote that, “The evidence in support of the charge was overwhelming
and would be sustained in the absence of legal error.”
With 8.3 million members, the United Methodist Church is the second largest
Protestant denomination in the United States. For the past decade the church
has been deeply divided over same-sex marriage and gay clergy.
News of the reversal came as the Council of Bishops, a group made up of all
active and retired Methodist bishops, gathered in Washington for its spring
meeting. The announcement that the church would appeal the decision in favor
of Stroud came on the same day that a group of bishops held a meeting with President
Bush. The Methodists said that they presented a Bible to Bush, who reportedly
declared that he is proud to be a Methodist.
Bush is opposed to same-sex marriage, a position shared by the United Methodist
Church.
The Judicial Council is expected to review the case at its October meeting.
Stroud, 35, was ordained as an elder in the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference
in 1997. After serving for two years as associate pastor at West Chester United
Methodist Church, she was appointed as associate pastor at First United Methodist
Church of Germantown in Philadelphia.
Stroud came out to her congregation in a sermon on April 27, 2003. She said
that she had decided that being secretive about her sexual orientation was distancing
her from God.
In a sermon titled “Walking in the Light” Stroud told her congregation
that she was living in a committed relationship with another woman and introduced
her partner, Chris Paige. She asked parishioners not to spring into hasty political
campaigning around her case, but rather, to prepare casseroles for one another
and host discussions so that the church might more gracefully weather the controversy
generated by her announcement.
Bishop Peter Weaver issued a formal complaint alleging that Stroud had engaged
in “practices declared by the Methodist Church to be incompatible with
Christian teachings.” When a nine-month supervisory process between Weaver
and Stroud did not lead to reconciliation, Stroud was served with a Judicial
Complaint.
Both of the bishops that Stroud had served under spoke highly of her during
the Dec. 2 church trial. Bishop Peter Weaver, who brought the complaint against
Stroud, testified, “She actually is a very fine pastor and a very fine
human being.” He added that she has a “strong sense of call to ordained
ministry, that is a sacrament. … And we are brothers and sisters in Christ
in a very profound way and she lives that with great integrity.”
Parishioners from her church characterized her as an excellent person and exceptional
pastor. Rev. Alfred Day, her present senior pastor spoke highly of her as a
person who, “from the formation and foundations of her soul loves God
and loves the church.” Multiple potential jurors were disqualified from
the jury pool when they said that they would not be willing to set aside their
feelings and convict Stroud if she was found to violate church law against homosexuality.
Stroud was convicted by a 7 to 6 vote.
Stroud had argued that the ban on gay clergy conflicts with the church law
against discrimination based on status.
Methodist rules come from the Book of Discipline, which specifies the process
through which disputes are to be resolved. The court process is infrequently
used. Criminal matters within the church are to be refereed to state authorities
and of the civil matters that the church court has jurisdiction over very few
have reached the highest court level.
Bishop Marcus Matthews of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference of the UMC offered
to appoint Stroud to her old job as Associate Pastor at First United Church
of Germantown in Philadelphia while her case is in the process of appeal.
Stroud declined the appointment and opted to continue to serve as lay minister
at the United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia until her case
is concluded, according to a statement published to Stroud’s personal
Web site.
“I do not want my ordination to be a symbol of who is ‘winning’
or ‘losing’ in a controversy at any given moment,” Stroud
said in a statement e-mailed to the Blade this week. “When I do put my
robes back on, whether that is at the conclusion of my case or in a number of
years when the General Conference changes its unjust legislation, I want that
to be simply a symbol of the sacred trust among me, God and the larger church.
“Ultimately I believe the church will live up to the promises it makes
in its constitution and be inclusive of all people,” Stroud said. “The
church has been wrong and has changed before — in the case of slavery,
for example, and in the case of ordination of women. The church will change
again. The church has the resources to do what’s right.”
The Judicial Council is a nine-member elected body made up of lay people and
clergy members who serve eight-year terms.
The United Methodist Church has a complicated approach to gay issues. While
the church does not allow openly gay clergy and has suspended and deconsecrated
pastors who have performed same-sex weddings, the church says it welcomes gay
parishioners and supports civil rights for gay men and lesbians including the
right to serve in the military. In 1999 the church declined to try a group of
69 Methodist ministers who gathered to bless a union of two women in Sacramento,
Calif.
Eartha Melzer can be reached at emelzer@washblade.com.
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