Gay Seattle pastor gets church assignment, not appointment
6/29/2001 News media contact: Tim Tanton · (615) 742-5470 · Nashville, Tenn. A UMNS Report By Tim Tanton* A Seattle United Methodist pastor who announced recently that he is gay has been assigned to a new position at his current church, but his supervisor will officially take leadership of the congregation as interim pastor.
The Rev. Mark Edward Williams will become minister of congregational life at Woodland Park United Methodist Church effective July 1, Bishop Elias G. Galvan told United Methodist News Service on June 28, following a press conference in Seattle. The position is being created specifically for Williams in cooperation with the church, said the bishop, who oversees the denomination's Seattle Area.
"Mark will work with the congregation and provide for their needs on a daily basis," Galvan said.
The Rev. Bob Hoshibata, superintendent of the denomination's Seattle District, will serve as interim pastor of Woodland Park in addition to continuing his current duties. The church has about 150 members, with weekly worship attendance of about 80.
On June 15, Williams told fellow clergy and lay members of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference that he is a practicing gay man. The announcement came as a surprise to people gathered for the conference's yearly meeting in Tacoma, Wash. In addition to being a meeting, the annual conference is a geographical unit that constitutes the church's Seattle Area.
After his revelation, Williams was not given an appointment to a congregation for the coming year, which begins July 1. United Methodist law, spelled out in the denomination's Book of Discipline, forbids the ordination or appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals."
However, the book also dictates that ordained elders in good standing must be appointed. Since Williams and two other self-avowed homosexual pastors in the conference are clergy members in good standing, the Pacific Northwest members are asking the United Methodist Judicial Council for a declaratory decision on the two passages in the Book of Discipline. The Judicial Council, which serves as the denomination's supreme court, meets in October.
After the Judicial Council rules, Galvan said he will review Williams' position at Woodland Park. Williams said he hopes to be reappointed pastor of his church.
Galvan is describing Williams' job as an assignment rather than an appointment. The bishop said he is not aware that such an assignment has been made anywhere else in the church. "There is no road map at this point," he said. "We're trying to be responsible to the needs of the church, be responsible to Mark as a person who is caught between these two paragraphs (of the Book of Discipline), and also to live within the discipline of our church. We are not going outside the discipline of our church."
Hoshibata met with the Woodland Park congregation on June 27 and found strong support for Williams' ministry. The district superintendent consulted with Galvan and the rest of the bishop's cabinet, then assigned Williams to handle the ministry at Woodland Park under his supervision. Ordained in 1998, Williams had been senior pastor at the church since 1999.
"Mark has been an effective pastor, a well-respected leader in the church and has the confidence and support of the congregation," Galvan said.
As interim pastor, Hoshibata will be preaching from time to time and attending to the life of the congregation, Galvan said. "He will be directly accountable for what happens there." Other people, including Williams, will preach at the church too, the bishop said.
The details and limitations of Williams' position have not been worked out, Galvan said.
"His ordination has not been revoked," the bishop noted. "He is a member in good standing in the conference." As such, Williams can celebrate communion and baptism, and perform other church rites.
Williams said he is working on a couple of weddings, and he also has a baptism scheduled.
"From what I understand, most of the day-to-day kinds of things that I have done in ministry here as an appointed pastor I will continue to be doing as an assigned pastor," Williams said. "I think the main difference is going to happen in the presence and ongoing supervision of the district superintendent, and ultimately, he will be the pastor in charge of the congregation. So just by way of authority and responsibility, the things that I will be doing won't change too much, but I won't be the pastor in charge of the congregation any more."
Williams' position is fully salaried. "We're caught between those two paragraphs of the (Book of) Discipline," Galvan said. "As clergy in good standing, he's supposed to receive an appointment, but I feel responsible for finding a position that will provide a salary for him while the Judicial Council takes a look at our request and makes a decision."
During the annual conference, Williams said that being gay is a core part of his identity. "I'm proudly as much a practicing gay man as I am a practicing United Methodist," he said then.
The Woodland Park members have shown him support. "I have received only overwhelming support from the congregation since my announcement," Williams said June 28. He had told some of the church leaders ahead of time, so they could be prepared and get the word out to other church members, he said. Woodland Park members attended annual conference to show support for him when he made his statement, he said. He has been flooded with phone calls, cards and e-mail, many of them from congregation members, expressing support for him. He has heard no opposition, he said.
During the annual conference, Williams was one of three pastors who were open about their homosexuality and about their desire to lead congregations.
The Rev. Karen Dammann disclosed in a February letter to Galvan that she is living in a covenanted partnership with another woman, and that they have a son. Dammann wanted Galvan to appoint her to a congregation, but Galvan said he could not under the Book of Discipline. Dammann, like Williams, was placed under Hoshibata's direct supervision when clergy appointments were announced at annual conference.
"We are presently working on trying to find a position for Rev. Dammann," Galvan said. "We do not know exactly what it will be. There are several options, but nothing has yet been agreed upon. We have to find something that not only fits her needs but will also fit the needs of the position itself." Dammann has told the bishop that she will be available Aug. 1. She is currently living in Massachusetts with her partner and son.
Dammann served at Woodland Park before Williams was appointed there. "It's a remarkable coincidence," Williams said. The members of the church "responded very graciously" to Dammann's news about her homosexuality, he said.
"There is not unanimity in this congregation about homosexuality ... but there is a very unanimous sense of grace and love and acceptance," Williams said. That was expressed in the situation with Dammann and again with him, he said.
A third pastor, the Rev. Katie Ladd, announced at annual conference that she is homosexual. Ladd is on paid medical disability, Galvan said. Though she has talked about wanting an appointment, she has not presented the necessary evidence that she is ready for one and that the conditions that created her disability have been addressed, the bishop said.
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*Tanton is news editor for United Methodist News Service.
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