wfn.org | [PCUSANEWS] Gay minister's case dismissed - and continued

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Note #7360 from PCUSA NEWS to PRESBYNEWS:

02273

Gay minister's case dismissed - and continued

Complainant seeks review; accused restates defiance of G-6.0106.b

by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE - Shortly after an investigating committee in Baltimore Presbytery decided not to bring charges against an openly gay minister, both parties in the dispute took action to keep it alive.

Paul Jensen, the Washington, DC, lawyer who filed the complaint, asked the presbytery court to review the committee's decision.

The Rev. Don Stroud, the accused, announced publiclythat, as a matter of faith and conscience, he cannot comply with a provision of the constitution of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

Stroud was accused last September of "willfully and deliberately" violating his ordination vows and the constitutional clause (G-6.0106.b) that says unmarried clergy may not be sexually active. He also was charged with heresy. He is employed by That All May Freely Serve (TAMFS), a group working to eliminate barriers to the full participation of gays and lesbians in PC(USA) ministry.

The case against Stroud was among the first initiated by Jensen, who has made similar allegations against 15 other Presbyterians around the country who he says are openly defying the PC(USA) constitution. Most of the cases were filed during Holy Week in March.

In the other case filed earlier, an investigating committee in National Capitol Presbytery also decided against filing formal charges.

Shortly after the Baltimore committee's decision became public, Stroud - who has waived his right of confidentiality - issued a statement of refusal to comply with G-6.0106.b, which he said violates the theological premise that it is by the "grace of Jesus Christ alone" that lives are bound together in the church.

Jensen had no comment on his request for review.

An investigating committee's decision is subject to review only on grounds of procedural irregularity.

The decision was made public in the stated clerk's report to the Baltimore Presbytery during its June 27 meeting, according to the Rev. Phil Sorensen, the presbytery executive. 

Sorensen said there was no discussion of the committee's decision.

A presbytery is required to investigate any complaint filed within its jurisdiction. The investigating committee decides whether to file formal charges with the presbytery's permanent judicial commission (PJC).

In his statement, Stroud said: "I cannot comply with G-6.0106.b of the Book of Order because to do so, for me, can come only at the price of denying my faith in God's grace in Jesus Christ. My conscience will not allow me to do such a thing."

In a section labeled, "My Personal Reactions to the Investigating Committee Report," he said that he is unwilling to engage in "works righteousness (celibacy) to earn God's favor."

"Is it an essential that I comply with an aberrant section of church polity that forces me to rely on anything except grace alone to be in full communion as a continuing member of presbytery?" he asked, continuing, "... I cannot but believe that the Presbytery of Baltimore in its own corporate conscience would ultimately decide otherwise."

Stroud, a member of the presbytery for three years, told the Presbyterian News Service that he is currently in a relationship.

The PJC has 90 days to respond to the request for a review.
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