wfn.org | Baltimore-Washington leaders explore transgender issue

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 1, 2001 News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-28-71B{435}

By Dean Snyder*

WASHINGTON (UMNS) - A group of United Methodist leaders is planning
conversations throughout the church's Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference
about the status of transgender clergy.

A 12-member committee comprising representatives from the conference's board
of ordained ministry, the bishop's cabinet, the order of elders and the
order of deacons met with the Rev. Thomas W. Porter, a lawyer and clergyman
who heads JUSTPEACE, a United Methodist mediation service, on Sept. 4,
according to the Rev. Roberta Scoville, the group's spokeswoman and dean of
the order of elders.
 
The committee of leaders from the Baltimore-Washington Conference will meet
three times this fall to discuss the issue of transgender clergy in ways
that model trust and cooperation and to design "a means of expanding the
circle of conversation," Scoville said. Porter will facilitate the meetings
using mediation techniques developed by JUSTPEACE.

"The group cannot make any decisions or recommendations about a specific
individual," Scoville said. "What we can do is provide clergy and laity with
a way to be well informed, understanding of all positions, and engage them
in a spiritual discernment process so that when they are confronted by
decisions brought to the clergy session we have a thoughtful and well
grounded - spiritually grounded - basis for the church to address those
decisions."

The issue of the status of transgender clergy was raised earlier this year
during the clergy session at annual conference in June. The board of
ordained ministry acknowledged that, despite its rule of confidentiality,
many people were aware that it had discussed the question of whether the
Rev. Rebecca Steen, formerly the Rev. Richard Zomastny, a pastor who had had
a sex-change operation, could return from a voluntary leave of absence to
active service as the appointed pastor of a local church. Although no action
was taken by the board or required of the clergy session because Steen
decided to remain on leave, the issue had the potential to severely divide
the conference, according to the board.

The board asked the orders of elders and deacons to initiate a conversation
among clergy and lay people "to explore the issues raised in the hearts and
minds of many regarding the responsibilities of the board of ordained
ministry in relation to a clergy colleague who is transgendered," according
to a report issued by the orders' officers. 

The orders recommended that the JUSTPEACE Center for Mediation and Conflict
Transformation, an organization established by the denomination's General
Council on Finance and Administration in 1999, be asked to assist in
planning and facilitating the conversations. 

After consultation with Bishop Felton Edwin May, JUSTPEACE was invited to
work with the conference. 

Scoville said the committee, also known as a "core group," has set the
agenda for three fall meetings. The first meeting will be a learning session
exploring personal experiences, biblical and theological points of view,
medical and psychological perspectives, sociological and cultural aspects,
United Methodist polity and due process. The second meeting will focus on
spiritual discernment with the goal of identifying affirmations and concerns
raised by the learning session. During the third meeting, the group will
design a means for "expanding the circle of conversation" throughout the
annual conference, Scoville said.

Porter, a retired trial lawyer who specialized in representing nonprofit and
charitable organizations, developed JUSTPEACE's process for conflict
mediation called "Engage Conflict Well" after becoming disillusioned with
adversarial law. He studied mediation at Harvard University and Eastern
Mennonite University, but he said he was most influenced by a visit to
observe the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, led by
Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu. 

The Engage Conflict Well process emphasizes small group discussion in which
people agree on a covenant of mutual respect and share peak experiences
before tackling areas of disagreement. The covenant includes agreement to
speak and listen with respect.

"The main thing that people need in life is to be heard," Porter said. "They
don't have to have you agree with them, but people, for a lot of different
reasons, do not feel heard today, and we need to provide opportunities for
them to be heard."

Scoville believes JUSTPEACE offers a way of discussing controversial issues
that will be "more productive and less hurtful." She doesn't know if
anybody's mind will be changed as a result of the conversations, she said,
but "they may perceive people who don't agree with them in a different way."

Scoville has extended an invitation to the clergy and laity of the
conference to recommend resources, such as scholars, theologians, physicians
or written materials, which they believe should be part of the core group's
learning process. She is also asking people to identify specific issues or
concerns the committee should consider. 

The core group, which currently consists entirely of clergy, plans to add
lay people to its membership, Scoville said.

# # #

*Snyder is director of communications for the Baltimore-Washington Annual
Conference of the United Methodist Church. This story originally appeared in
the conference newspaper, UMConnection.

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United Methodist News Service
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