HOUSTON – A lesbian Methodist minister should retain her ordained status, because defrocking her would amount to discrimination and would fly in the face of the inclusiveness that the church preaches, representatives of a Pennsylvania minister argued Thursday before the church’s Judicial Council.
The nine-member council – seven of whom attended a hearing at First United Methodist Church in Houston – began deliberating the case of Irene “Beth” Stroud, with plans to rule on Monday. The Judicial Council is the highest court within the United Methodist Church, the nation’s third-largest denomination.
Stroud, 35, was found by a church panel in December to have violated the denomination’s ban on “self-avowed, practicing homosexual” clergy. The decision was later overturned and then appealed to the Judicial Council.
Alan Symonette, representing Stroud, said the church is asking gays and lesbians to deny their sexuality in order to serve as ordained ministers. “We contend this is discrimination based on status,” he said. “This United Methodist Church is an inclusive church. Beth Stroud has been called into the ministry.”
But the Rev. Thomas Hall, acting as prosecutor, said if the council decides in Stroud’s favor, it will cause confusion throughout the denomination.
“What is at stake in this appeal is the ability of the church to uphold its own laws,” Hall said. “If we lose, everybody loses.”
Stroud, who became an associate pastor at Pennsylvania’s First United Methodist Church of Germantown in 1999, said she never revealed her sexual orientation in documents related to her ordination, but neither did she keep it a secret.
Stroud said she decided to come out in 2003 because she felt she was being held back in her faith by not sharing the complete truth about her life. A complaint was filed against her in 2004.
“This is a very difficult situation to be in because there are important points being made by both sides,” said Richard Heitzenrater, who also argued for the church. “It is part of the pains of growing into the 21st century, but what our side has been trying to say is that there are certain processes and procedures and guidelines.”
“No one has ever questioned my effectiveness as a minister, my gifts for service,” Stroud said. “So, clearly, my sexual orientation doesn’t affect my effectiveness as a minister. To me, that makes it clear that the rules about homosexuality in the ordained ministry are not about effectiveness in ministry, they are about something else.”
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