wfn.org | Layman files complaint against Denver bishop

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

May 27, 1999 News media contact: Linda Bloom*(212) 870-3803*New York
10-21-28-71B{301}

By United Methodist News Service

A complaint filed against United Methodist Bishop Mary Ann Swenson of Denver
will be reviewed by her peers in the denomination's Western Jurisdiction.

Mel Brown, a layman from Johnstown, Colo., made two charges against Swenson
in a letter to Bishop Ed Paup of Portland, Ore., president of the Western
Jurisdiction College of Bishops.

Brown said he had complained to Swenson on Aug. 28 that the Rev. Toni Cook,
pastor of St. Paul's United Methodist Church in Denver, "has been conducting
same-sex marriages for some time" but that he had received no response from
Swenson about his complaint. His second charge is that Swenson "supported" a
lecture by a controversial theologian, Marcus Borg, at United
Methodist-related Iliff School of Theology.  

Last August, the Judicial Council, the denomination's supreme court,
declared that a statement in the Book of Discipline prohibiting same-sex
union ceremonies constituted church law and that violation of it could be a
chargeable offense. No specifics have been offered about when Cook allegedly
conducted such ceremonies.

Speaking for Swenson, the Rev. Gary Keene told United Methodist News Service
on May 27 that the bishop's office has been "in a long-term dialogue with
Mr. Brown." Keene, who is area director of ministries, said that Brown's
conduct toward Swenson during her seven-year tenure as bishop in the Denver
area "constitutes harassment." But, he added, "we're not responding in kind.
We're trying to respond as the church."

Bishop William Dew of Phoenix has been assigned by Paup to handle the
complaint. Dew told United Methodist News Service he would attempt to
resolve the situation "by mutual understanding." He said he was sending a
letter to Brown on May 27 and would have one-on-one conversations with Brown
and Swenson in June, as required by the Discipline. "If necessary, I will go
to Colorado and have the two of them meet face to face," Dew added.   
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