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THE
METHODIST
CONNECTION From Clergy
credentials were revoked for Beth
Stroud, a Philadelphia area associate
pastor who admitted living in a
homosexual relationship with another
woman. The
Methodist high court also ruled that
the bishop of Virginia was incorrect to
suspend a traditionalist pastor who
refused to receive into membership a
man who was in a sexual relationship
with another man. UMC doctrine declares
that homosexual practice is
"incompatible with Christian
teaching." Virginia
Bishop Charlene Kammerer learned of the
situation and ordered Mr. Johnson to
accept the man into immediate
membership. Mr. Johnson refused and was
placed on involuntary leave without
pay. Representing
Mr. Johnson before the Council, the
Rev. Tom Thomas said
the man who was denied membership "was
neither willing to accept the principle
of celibacy in singleness nor commit
himself to it." He
said that the bishop had overstepped
her authority, noting that historical
documentation "through two centuries...
[shows that Methodist]
preachers have been given expressly
discretionary authority to determine
whether or not a person meets the
threshold of membership as set forth in
The Book of Discipline." (The
Discipline is the denomination's
book of established teaching and rules
of governance.) In a
5-3 decision,
the Judicial Council agreed that
pastors in United Methodism do have
discretion about church membership,
therefore Mr. Johnson was within his
rights as "pastor in charge" to deny
membership to the man. The
Council also ordered
that Mr. Johnson be restored to the
pastorate and be reimbursed for the
salary that had been withheld from him,
but did not directly address the issue
of homosexual activity and church
membership. While
the Judicial Council was meeting in
Houston, Texas, the UM Council of
Bishops was meeting at Lake Junaluska,
North Carolina. Following the ruling in
the Jouhnson case, the bishops issued a
unanimous statement
affirming that "homosexuality" (the
orientation) is not a bar to church
membership, but did not address whether
a person who engages in homosexual
conduct
should be allowed to join. Despite
pressure from some church leaders, the
Council of Bishops also did not ask the
Judicial Council to reconsider its
ruling in the Johnson case. Officially,
the United Methodist Church affirms
God's love for all persons, including
homosexuals, but affirms sex only
within marriage. UM doctrine describes
homosexual practice as "incompatible
with Christian teaching" and requires
clergy to be celibate if single and
monogamous if married. The
church also prohibits any celebration
of same-sex unions and bars any church
funding of activities or teaching that
promotes homosexual conduct.
Gateway
Church gathers
for worship
Sundays
at 10:30 a.m.
(Hwy. 129) in Athens,
Georgia.
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WINTER
2006
UM
Judicial Council upholds
ban on homosexual clergy
Methodist
high court also reinstates conservative
pastor
The
United Methodist Church's highest court
defrocked an openly homosexual minister
who defied the church's prohibition
against clergy sexually active outside
of marriage.
The Council, in a 6-2 decision
released in late October, ruled that
the church's expectation of celibacy
for single clergy and monogamy for
married clergy was very clear.
According to reports, the Rev. Ed
Johnson, a pastor in South Hill,
Virginia, had been counseling the
homosexual man for several months
regarding the demands of Christian
discipleship. The man was attending
Johnson's church and singing in the
choir, but had not been allowed to
join.
Mr.
Thomas argued
that "[if Bishop Kammerer's]
assumption is correct, that clergy must
receive into membership any person...
regardless of his or her state of
Christian commitment, then the
character of our Church, to say nothing
of the Christian gospel, is jeopardized
and radically diminished."
This article was adapted from a
report by UM Action,
a outreach of the Institute on Religion
and Democracy.