Court upholds church stance on "self-avowed practicing homosexuals"

Dec. 8, 2004

When a United Methodist clergywoman from Philadelphia was stripped of her credentials after a church trial, even those who prosecuted her found no cause for celebration.

"We have no delight in finding a colleague guilty of the charges," said the Rev. Thomas Hall, who served as church counsel for the denomination’s Eastern Pennsylvania Annual (regional) Conference in the Dec. 1-2 trial of Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud.

A jury of 13 clergy members voted 7-6 to withdraw the ministerial credentials of the 34-year-old associate pastor of First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia. Stroud, who had publicly acknowledged she was living in a committed relationship with another woman, was found guilty by the same jury of violating Paragraph 2702.1 (b) of the 2000 Book of Discipline by engaging in practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings.

While there was no dispute from the conference about Stroud’s effectiveness as a pastor, Hall said he believed the trial court had reached the proper decision "in this place and at this time in our history together." Church law bars the ordination or appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals."

"The trial really upheld what the church has upheld and enforced over the last several years in our denomination," he added during a press conference at the trial’s conclusion. "As you’ve heard, this trial does not end anything. The struggle will continue on as we all seek to be faithful to God’s call to the people who are called United Methodists."

Robert Shoemaker, who also participated in the trial and is counsel for the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, said the verdict reinforced church law. "The important concept that was upheld in this case is the church’s right to set criteria for its ministers," he explained, adding that such criteria can be changed only by General Conference, the denomination’s top legislative body, or Judicial Council, it’s top court.

"Despite how this decision feels, we recognize pain in the larger church struggling over the hurt and difficulty of this decision and pray for a day soon when that hurt will end," said the Rev. Fred Day, pastor of First United Methodist Church of Germantown.

In a Dec. 3 pastoral letter, Bishop Marcus Matthews of the Philadelphia Episcopal Area noted that everyone involved in the trial proceedings at Camp Innabah showed "great respect" for individuals and for the church.

"No matter what our individual views are on the issue of homosexuality, we owe the members of the trial court our word of thanks," the letter said. "Theirs was a difficult task where answers do not always appear clearly or quickly. We must respect the decision of the trial court and move on in our ministry."

The Rev. James Heidinger, president of Good News, Wilmore, Ky., an unofficial evangelical renewal movement within the United Methodist Church, said his organization was "grateful" that church law was upheld. "We should all remember that the question at hand was not whether Beth was effective in her ministry or loved by her people," he said. "The question was whether the relationship she currently is in violates the covenant of those choosing to be in ministry within the United Methodist Church.

"Our church’s standards have been carefully and prayerfully established by past General Conferences and were reaffirmed recently by delegates in Pittsburgh by an overwhelming majority," he continued. "The clarity of the verdict and firmness of the penalty sends a much-needed message to the church that we have Scriptural guidelines that must be taken seriously."

Delegates to the 2004 General Conference voted to retain the church’s prohibition that the practice of homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teachings." Prohibition against the ordination or appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" continues to be church policy. In addition, the list of chargeable offenses that could bring bishops, pastors and diaconal ministers to trial was amended to include not being celibate in singleness or being unfaithful in a heterosexual marriage. Other chargeable offenses include conducting ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions or performing same-sex weddings.

Heidinger also expressed appreciation for the leadership of Bishop Joseph Yeakel, who presided over the trial. Yeakel retired in 1996 after serving the Washington D.C. area.

The Rev. Ira Gallaway, Albuquerque, N.M., associate director of the Confessing Movement, noted that Stroud "had been prepared to be honest about her lesbianism with anyone who asked." So while it "is a positive event" that the trial court upheld church law, he said, "it is a sad commentary that she was approved by the Board of Ordained Ministry and (that) her conference ordained her as an elder in the United Methodist Church." The Confessing Movement is an unofficial United Methodist group that supports adherence to church law and the apostolic faith.

Supporters of Stroud expressed the belief that her gifts as a pastor should be weighed against any prohibitions on sexuality. "Nobody won in bringing this case to trial," said the Rev. Troy Plummer, Chicago, executive director of the Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial grassroots organization supporting persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities.

"The church kept its rules yet lost its integrity in the process by seeing the spirit at work and then working against the spirit. The 7-6 split on the removal of credentials reflects the division in our church," he said.

The Reconciling Ministries Network, he added, affirms "that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons are permanently a part of our United Methodist family and often are called by God to serve as clergy. We continue to rejoice as the spirit breaks free of legalism and works for the day when our church is free from discrimination encoded in our Book of Discipline."

The Rev. Kathryn Johnson, Washington, executive director, Methodist Federation for Social Action, argued that "the entire case against Beth Stroud was held together by the thin thread of legalism" and wondered how long the church will survive "if we continue to choose law over love and punishment over grace."

Church Within A Church, which describes itself as a grass roots response to the actions of General Conference, also condemned the church’s legalist stance and declared that with the Stroud verdict, "the policy of ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell’ was confirmed and closet doors were slammed shut all across the denomination."

*Bloom and Green are United Methodist News Service news writers.

News media contact: Linda Green or Linda Bloom (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.