wfn.org | Judicial Council Rules on Cases

[owner-umethnews@ecunet.org]

"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3262 notes).

Note 3258 by UMNS on Oct. 29, 1996 at 16:37 Eastern (5175 characters).

SEARCH: United Methodist, Judicial Council, clergy salary,
reconciling conference, laity standards 
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Ralph E. Baker                  544(10-21-28-71BP){3258}
          Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470           Oct. 29, 1996

Judicial Council reverses General Conference
clergy salary action, affirms reconciling conference

by Robert Lear*

     JACKSON, Miss. (UMNS) -- The United Methodist Church's
highest court Oct. 25 struck down an action adopted earlier this
year by the denomination's top legislative body that opened the
door to possible major changes in the way pastors' salaries are
determined.
     Church law traditionally provides that compensation for
clergy is set by the congregations to which they are appointed. 
The proposed change adopted in the closing hours of the l996
General Conference would have given annual conferences the option
of developing an alternative compensation program.
     The eight members of the Judicial Council attending the
court's autumn session here were unanimous in holding that the
General Conference action violates the church's Book of Discipline
by taking away powers specifically granted to the charge
conference.
     In another unanimous opinion, the high court affirmed Bishop
Sharon Zimmerman Rader's ruling that the Wisconsin Annual
Conference was entitled to adopt a "Resolution to Become a
Reconciling Conference."  The conference took the controversial
action at its l996 session.
     The Wisconsin resolution welcomes all people into United
Methodist churches in the state, saying:  "Only a public statement
can begin to overcome (the) perceived reality" that gay,lesbian
and bisexual people "are not welcome in churches."
     The Judicial Council noted the Wisconsin action "clearly only
welcomes all people into its churches" in accord with official
denominational pronouncements.
     The church's stance calling homosexuality incompatible with
Christian teaching and barring self-avowed practicing homosexuals
from the ordained ministry provided the background for two other
decisions handed down here, both by a split vote.
     One upheld a ruling by Bishop Raymond H. Owen in the
Southwest Texas Annual Conference.  The other remanded a ruling to
Owen with the request that he made a decision of law responding to
the request filed during the l996 conference session. 
     By a 5-3 vote, the Judicial Council sustained a ruling by
Owen on a question as to whether standards for an ordained
minister (in church law) can "be applied at any or all levels to
lay members of the Church."  The disciplinary paragraph cited in
the request to the bishop calls for clergy to practice "fidelity
in marriage and celibacy in singleness," among other things.
     Owen declined to rule, holding that the request for a ruling
was "an abstract question and hypothetical" and did not refer to a
"particular situation or circumstance."
     By a 6-2 vote, the court sent back to Owen a separate request
for a ruling on whether a person can be denied "the right to lead
and/or participate in activities and programs of the church on the
basis of his or her sexual orientation."  Owen held this question
was hypothetical, also, but the court said the request for a
ruling did relate to an action taken by the conference.
     Upholding three other episcopal rulings on questions of law,
the Judicial Council said:  The Minnesota Conference followed
appropriate procedure in a grievance filed against a former
pastor; a jurisdictional conference must approve transfer of
churches from one annual conference to another; and a Central
conference (Europe, Africa and the Philippines) cannot remove an
annual conference from the United Methodist Church except on the
basis of an individual vote by each annual conference within the
Central conference.
     Four decisions of law by Iowa Bishop Charles Wesley Jordan
relating to clergy matters and ruling on the constitutionality of
a program action from the Peninsula-Delaware Conference for Bishop
Susan M. Morrison were carried over to the Spring meeting.
     In a case from the West Ohio Annual Conference, the court
said that any requirement of reporting confidences in matters of
sexual misconduct and harassment is in violation of church law. 
The conference had adopted a policy calling for sharing such
information with district superintendents or bishop of the area.
     A "sexual misconduct policy" adopted by the Tennessee
Conference was found to be in accord with church law.
     Tom Matheny, an attorney from Hammond, La., is president of
the nine-member Judicial Council.  The Rev. John B. Corry,
Nashville, Tenn., vice president, was absent from the session here
because of a death in his family.
     The council will hold its next session April 23-26 in either
Texas or New Jersey.
                              #  #  #

     * Lear is retired director of the Washington office of United
Methodist News Service now living in Wernersville, Pa.   

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

 To make suggestions or give your comments, send a note to 
 umns@ecunet.org or Susan_Peek@ecunet.org

 To unsubscribe, send the single word "unsubscribe" (no quotes)
 in a mail message to umethnews-request@ecunet.org

-----------------------------------------------------------------------