wfn.org | Church court affirms law book in case of lesbian pastor

["NewsDesk" <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

Oct. 29, 2003  News media contact: Tim Tanton7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn. 
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A UMNS Report
By Tim Tanton*

The United Methodist Church's supreme court has sent a sharp reminder about
the authority of denominational law in its ruling regarding a lesbian pastor
in Washington state.
 
In an Oct. 27 decision, the Judicial Council affirmed the church's Book of
Discipline, which forbids the ordination and appointment of "self-avowed
practicing homosexuals." By sending the case back to two lower-ranking
judicial bodies, the court also set into motion a series of events that could
lead to a clergy trial - and possible loss of credentials - for the Rev.
Karen Dammann. 
 
If that happened, it wouldn't be the first time a gay United Methodist pastor
has been brought before a church court. However, Dammann's case is shaping up
to be a precedent-setting one, observers say.
 
"I do think that it's the first case that has challenged (the church's) laws
this openly and directly," said the Rev. Elaine Stanovsky, a member of Bishop
Elias Galvan's cabinet in the Pacific Northwest Annual (regional) Conference,
where the pastor serves.

She also noted that a clergy trial is not a certainty. "This is new ground,"
she said. "We've never walked this way before."
 
Dammann informed her bishop in February 2001 that she was living in a
"partnered, covenanted homosexual relationship." The following November, at
the direction of the Judicial Council, Bishop Galvan filed a complaint,
charging that she had violated the Book of Discipline. The case wound its way
through the church's legal processes, finally ending up back at the Judicial
Council, which met Oct. 22-24.
 
In its latest ruling, the court reversed the decisions of two lower-ranking
church bodies, the Western Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals and the Pacific
Northwest Conference Committee on Investigation. In split votes, both
committees had supported the dismissal of charges against Dammann.
 
The Judicial Council said both committees had committed "an egregious error
of church law" by refusing to apply the Book of Discipline and the council's
earlier decisions to the case. The court ordered the jurisdictional appeals
committee to send the case back to the conference committee on investigation
for a new hearing.

If members of the committee on investigation are "unwilling to uphold the
Discipline for reasons of conscience or otherwise, such members must step
aside in this matter," the court said.
 
The court also said it was retaining jurisdiction "for the purpose of
ensuring that its decision is implemented."

The court seems to have taken a new step in defining its own role and that of
the annual conference in overseeing the judicial process, Stanovsky said.
Clearly, she said, the Judicial Council members "were dissatisfied with
procedural matters. Clearly, they are wanting to exercise more influence at
the annual conference level than they have in the past." 
 
However, she said, she didn't hear the Judicial Council take away the
committee on investigation's responsibility for determining grounds for a
church trial. "I wouldn't say (a trial) is a certainty" in Dammann's case,
she said.
 
Dammann said she expects the case to go to trial-a possibility that she and
her partner, Meredith Savage, have discussed. "From the very beginning, we
looked at all the possible consequences, and we knew where it could possibly
go," she said. 

Currently serving at First United Methodist Church in Ellensburg, Wash.,
Dammann remains a pastor in good standing, according to the conference. She
said her district superintendent affirmed her in remarks to the congregation
Oct. 26. "He seems to be very confident that I'm not going to be going
anywhere" while the case is in process, she said.
 
In 1987, the Rev. Rose Mary Denman of New Hampshire underwent a clergy trial
after declaring that she was a lesbian. She lost her clergy credentials as a
result.
 
Stanovsky expects that people unhappy on either side of the issue may propose
legislation at the upcoming General Conference to change the judicial process
in one way or another. "I think a lot of people are examining this process
very closely," she said.
 
The Judicial Council's ruling pleased groups in the church that are pushing
for stricter adherence to the Book of Discipline, while advocates for more
inclusiveness of gays expressed dismay.
 
The court's ruling was fair, said the Rev. James V. Heidinger II, the
president of Good News, an unofficial United Methodist organization that
works for renewal in the church. "It seemed clear that both the committee on
investigation and the jurisdictional appeals committee simply had not
fulfilled their disciplinary responsibilities."

The Judicial Council's decision to retain jurisdiction over the case is
significant, he said. 
 
"The Judicial Council's ruling is a reminder to the church that no annual
conference can operate independently - that is to say, (it) cannot negate or
ignore the standards of the Book of Discipline - and that the place where
United Methodists determine policy is at our General Conference," Heidinger
said.
 
General Conference, the church's top legislative body, meets every four years
to revise the Book of Discipline and adopt resolutions on issues of concern.
It will meet April 27-May 7 in Pittsburgh.
 
The provision in the Book of Discipline that was used to bring Dammann's case
to the Judicial Council was added at the 2000 General Conference, said the
Rev. Kathryn Johnson, director of Methodist Federation for Social Action, an
unofficial group that advocates for full inclusion of gays and lesbians in
the life of the church. The provision "reflects a growing tendency within the
UMC to resort to trials and litigation as a means of settling our
differences," she said.
 
"I fear for the church if this is the direction we continue to take," she
said.  She expressed hope that General Conference would seek other ways to
work out such disagreements.
 
The timetable for resolving Dammann's case is unclear, but the Judicial
Council directed the appeals committee to move expeditiously. Said Stanovsky:
"My sense is that all parties involved ... are eager to move towards
resolution."
# # #
*Tanton is United Methodist News Service's managing editor. 

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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