wfn.org | UMNS# 04568-Stroud holds hope for United Methodist Church,

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Stroud holds hope for United Methodist Church, despite verdict 

Dec. 3, 2004	 News media contact:   Linda Green or Linda  Bloom * (646)
3693759*  New York {04568}

NOTE: Photographs and related coverage are available at http://umns.umc.org.

By Linda Bloom and Linda Green*

PUGHTOWN, Pa. (UMNS) - Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud may have lost her
ministerial credentials, but she has not given up on the United Methodist
Church.

The former Philadelphia clergywoman, whose sexual orientation led to a Dec. 2
guilty verdict by a church trial court, had not expected to win her case, but
she expressed hope afterward "that in time and through God's spirit, the
United Methodist Church will change its (Book of) Discipline."
 
Because Stroud, 34, had publicly acknowledged that she was living in a
committed relationship with another woman, she was found to have violated the
church's law book, which forbids the participation of "self-avowed practicing
homosexuals" in the ordained ministry. 

The trial court - or jury - of 13 clergy members voted 7-6 to withdraw her
credentials. "In the divided vote, I feel the dividedness of the church, but
I feel hopeful," Stroud said. She considers the trial to be a "teaching
moment" for the denomination, she said.

The two-day trial was held at Camp Innabah, a church-owned retreat center in
the denomination's Eastern Pennsylvania Annual (regional) Conference. Retired
Bishop Joseph Yeakel of Smithsburg, Md., presided.

Despite being unable to perform the sacraments, Stroud said she is eager to
continue her ministry at First United Methodist Church in Germantown, Pa. -
where she had been an associate pastor since 1999 - as a layperson.

Stroud was charged with violating Paragraph 2702.1(b) of the 2000 Book of
Discipline by engaging in practices declared by the United Methodist Church
to be incompatible with Christian teachings. The charge originated from a
complaint filed by Bishop Peter Weaver, who led the Eastern Pennsylvania
Conference until Aug. 31 and currently serves the New England Conference. 

The charge was supported by four specifications of evidence, and the trial
court found Stroud guilty of each specification by a vote of 12-1. 

The first specification focused on an April 19, 2003, letter that Stroud sent
to members of her congregation, speaking of her struggle "to respond to God's
calling" while "a lesbian living in a committed relationship with a partner."
In that letter, Stroud wrote that she realized being open about her sexuality
"will put my credentials as an ordained United Methodist minister at risk."

Specification 2 referred to an April 27, 2003, sermon in which Stroud told
how she "came to understand that I was a lesbian" while a student at Bryn
Mawr College around 1990. In the sermon, she again acknowledged a possible
loss of her credentials. She also introduced Chris Paige, the partner with
whom she had "lived in a covenant relationship for two and one-half years,"
to the congregation.

Specification 3 noted that on July 23, 2004, the conference's committee on
investigation inquired about the physical nature of Stroud's relationship
with Paige and whether it included sexual contact. Stroud provided some
context about the relationship and added, "But, yes, that is a part of our
relationship. It's a part of who we are as a loving couple and as partners."

Specification 4 said that because of the evidence, the committee believed
Stroud was a self-avowed practicing homosexual in a monogamous, committed
relationship with a specific female partner while in the ordained ministry of
the United Methodist Church.  

Following the verdict, Stroud has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the
outcome to the committee on appeal for the denomination's Northeastern
Jurisdiction.

Speaking after the trial, the Rev. Thomas Hall, who was lead counsel for the
church, told United Methodist News Service, "We do not like bringing charges
against a colleague, but the Book of Discipline is very clear about what it
means to be an ordained United Methodist minister. It is terrible that we had
to bring charges, but this was about accountability - holding ministers
accountable to appropriate behavior."

The Rev. J. Dennis Williams, who served as Stroud's counsel, said he was
disappointed that Yeakel had limited the scope of the defense. Yeakel had
ruled that certain matters the defense team intended to present were not
appropriate for a trial court but were matters to be considered by the
Judicial Council or General Conference - the church's supreme court and top
legislative assembly.

"The trial was not about winning or losing," Williams said. The proceedings
did show how the issue of homosexuality and the ordained ministry could be
debated without anger, he added. "Perhaps this can be a piece in a journey
that will help us to look at this issue not just from law, but from
theology."

The Rev. Fred Day, senior pastor of the Germantown church, expressed
frustrated and disappointment with the process. "This is not the United
Methodist Church of our past heritage or best future, to be driven by rigid
rules and regulations, but by ever-widening circles of grace," he said.

Speaking for the jurors, the Rev. Jeffrey Snyder, chairperson, told the press
that the trial "was an extremely thoughtful and difficult process." Snyder,
who is pastor of Columbia United Methodist Church in Lancaster County, said
the split vote regarding the penalty against Stroud was evidence that "there
is not one uniform thought concerning this issue in the United Methodist
Church."

A statement made on behalf of Bishop Marcus Matthews and the Eastern
Pennsylvania Conference also mentioned the lack of uniformity. "While the
trial may be over, the pain and division over homosexuality is not ending,"
it said.

Bishop John Schol of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, a friend and former
colleague who testified on Stroud's behalf, said he was "saddened that Beth's
fitness for ministry has been questioned."

But Schol said he believes "our love for one another and the church is
stronger than our disagreements." Schol wrote a unity statement that was
overwhelmingly approved by the 2004 General Conference, the denomination's
top legislative assembly.

He wants members of the denomination to learn from one another, he said. "I
call everyone in the church to be healers and bridge builders," he said in a
statement. "Pastors and church leaders have the opportunity to share and
interpret to their congregations and communities concerning the church's
actions today in ways that build understanding rather than heighten
divisiveness."

The trial period included selection of the trial court members, an opening
worship service, two-hour sessions of presentations by church and respondent
counsel on the afternoon of Dec. 1 and the following morning, and jury
deliberations for both the verdict and penalty.

During the trial, Stroud explained that the first stirring of her call to
ministry came at an early age through a family dedicated to the United
Methodist Church. "We were one of those families that was at the church often
three or four nights of the week as well as Sunday mornings," she recalled.

After college, she decided to go to seminary, but she was uncertain of her
calling until she interviewed some pastors of predominantly gay and lesbian
congregations in New York for a story she was writing. An inner voice told
her, "I don't want you to write about this, I want you to do this," she told
the court.

Stroud said she expected that at some point during the road to ordination,
someone would ask her about her sexuality and she would have to be truthful,
but it never happened.

Schol, who appeared as a witness for Stroud, said she told him about her
sexual orientation before they started appointments together as pastors of
West Chester (Pa.) United Methodist Church in 1997 but indicated she was not
in a relationship then. "She wanted me to know that because she didn't want
to hurt my ministry or the ministry of the church," he added. 

He considers Stroud a "person of great integrity" and a great preacher who
was impressive in that first appointment, he said. "I believe Beth was called
to that ministry."

The Rev. Fred Day, senior pastor at First United Methodist Church of
Germantown, told the trial court he believed Stroud has "been faithful to the
sacred trust of ministry." He described her as deeply spiritual and grounded
in the faith, highly effective as an administrator, and a model teacher and
leader of the church youth. "She is truly a transformational leader in our
church," he said.

In his closing argument, Williams told the trial court "the heart of the
issue is whether all United Methodists, regardless of status, are to be
afforded equal rights and equal opportunities." He urged the jurors not to
look at a narrow spectrum of facts but at the rest of the Book of Discipline
as well.

Hall, in closing, reviewed the specifications of the case and noted that
Bishop Peter Weaver had done everything possible, under the Book of
Discipline "to bring reconciliation and just resolution" to the case before
filing the charge against Stroud.

"Beth's calling is not in dispute," Hall said. "Her decision to live outside
the boundaries of what we've agreed to live within is in dispute."

Before the Stroud trial, the last public church trial occurred in March, when
the Rev. Karen Dammann of Seattle was found not guilty of the charge of
engaging in "practices incompatible with Christian teachings." The trial
court of the denomination's Pacific Northwest Conference did find that
Dammann had openly admitted to being a practicing homosexual. 

In early May, the Judicial Council ruled that it did not have the authority
to review the findings of the Dammann trial court. But the council reaffirmed
that a bishop may not appoint a pastor who has been found by a trial court to
be a "self-avowed practicing homosexual."

*Bloom and Green are United Methodist News Service news writers.

News media contact: Linda Green or Linda Bloom, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.

********************

United Methodist News Service