wfn.org | Gay Seattle pastor gets church assignment, not appointment

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

June 29, 2001  News media contact: Tim Tanton·(615)742-5470·Nashville, Tenn.
10-21-28-71B{297}

A UMNS Report
By Tim Tanton*

A Seattle United Methodist pastor who announced recently that he is gay has
been assigned to a new position at his current church, but his supervisor
will officially take leadership of the congregation as interim pastor.
 
The Rev. Mark Edward Williams will become minister of congregational life at
Woodland Park United Methodist Church effective July 1, Bishop Elias G.
Galvan told United Methodist News Service on June 28, following a press
conference in Seattle. The position is being created specifically for
Williams in cooperation with the church, said the bishop, who oversees the
denomination's Seattle Area.

"Mark will work with the congregation and provide for their needs on a daily
basis," Galvan said.
 
The Rev. Bob Hoshibata, superintendent of the denomination's Seattle
District, will serve as interim pastor of Woodland Park in addition to
continuing his current duties. The church has about 150 members, with weekly
worship attendance of about 80.

On June 15, Williams told fellow clergy and lay members of the Pacific
Northwest Annual Conference that he is a practicing gay man. The
announcement came as a surprise to people gathered for the conference's
yearly meeting in Tacoma, Wash. In addition to being a meeting, the annual
conference is a geographical unit that constitutes the church's Seattle
Area.

After his revelation, Williams was not given an appointment to a
congregation for the coming year, which begins July 1. United Methodist law,
spelled out in the denomination's Book of Discipline, forbids the ordination
or appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals."

However, the book also dictates that ordained elders in good standing must
be appointed. Since Williams and two other self-avowed homosexual pastors in
the conference are clergy members in good standing, the Pacific Northwest
members are asking the United Methodist Judicial Council for a declaratory
decision on the two passages in the Book of Discipline. The Judicial
Council, which serves as the denomination's supreme court, meets in October.

After the Judicial Council rules, Galvan said he will review Williams'
position at Woodland Park. Williams said he hopes to be reappointed pastor
of his church.

Galvan is describing Williams' job as an assignment rather than an
appointment. The bishop said he is not aware that such an assignment has
been made anywhere else in the church. "There is no road map at this point,"
he said. "We're trying to be responsible to the needs of the church, be
responsible to Mark as a person who is caught between these two paragraphs
(of the Book of Discipline), and also to live within the discipline of our
church. We are not going outside the discipline of our church."

Hoshibata met with the Woodland Park congregation on June 27 and found
strong support for Williams' ministry. The district superintendent consulted
with Galvan and the rest of the bishop's cabinet, then assigned Williams to
handle the ministry at Woodland Park under his supervision. Ordained in
1998, Williams had been senior pastor at the church since 1999. 

"Mark has been an effective pastor, a well-respected leader in the church
and has the confidence and support of the congregation," Galvan said.

As interim pastor, Hoshibata will be preaching from time to time and
attending to the life of the congregation, Galvan said. "He will be directly
accountable for what happens there." Other people, including Williams, will
preach at the church too, the bishop said.

The details and limitations of Williams' position have not been worked out,
Galvan said.

"His ordination has not been revoked," the bishop noted. "He is a member in
good standing in the conference." As such, Williams can celebrate communion
and baptism, and perform other church rites.

Williams said he is working on a couple of weddings, and he also has a
baptism scheduled.

"From what I understand, most of the day-to-day kinds of things that I have
done in ministry here as an appointed pastor I will continue to be doing as
an assigned pastor," Williams said. "I think the main difference is going to
happen in the presence and ongoing supervision of the district
superintendent, and ultimately, he will be the pastor in charge of the
congregation. So just by way of authority and responsibility, the things
that I will be doing won't change too much, but I won't be the pastor in
charge of the congregation any more."

Williams' position is fully salaried. "We're caught between those two
paragraphs of the (Book of) Discipline," Galvan said. "As clergy in good
standing, he's supposed to receive an appointment, but I feel responsible
for finding a position that will provide a salary for him while the Judicial
Council takes a look at our request and makes a decision."

During the annual conference, Williams said that being gay is a core part of
his identity. "I'm proudly as much a practicing gay man as I am a practicing
United Methodist," he said then.

The Woodland Park members have shown him support. "I have received only
overwhelming support from the congregation since my announcement," Williams
said June 28. He had told some of the church leaders ahead of time, so they
could be prepared and get the word out to other church members, he said.
Woodland Park members attended annual conference to show support for him
when he made his statement, he said. He has been flooded with phone calls,
cards and e-mail, many of them from congregation members, expressing support
for him. He has heard no opposition, he said. 

During the annual conference, Williams was one of three pastors who were
open about their homosexuality and about their desire to lead congregations.

The Rev. Karen Dammann disclosed in a February letter to Galvan that she is
living in a covenanted partnership with another woman, and that they have a
son. Dammann wanted Galvan to appoint her to a congregation, but Galvan said
he could not under the Book of Discipline. Dammann, like Williams, was
placed under Hoshibata's direct supervision when clergy appointments were
announced at annual conference.

"We are presently working on trying to find a position for Rev. Dammann,"
Galvan said. "We do not know exactly what it will be. There are several
options, but nothing has yet been agreed upon. We have to find something
that not only fits her needs but will also fit the needs of the position
itself." Dammann has told the bishop that she will be available Aug. 1. She
is currently living in Massachusetts with her partner and son.

Dammann served at Woodland Park before Williams was appointed there. "It's a
remarkable coincidence," Williams said. The members of the church "responded
very graciously" to Dammann's news about her homosexuality, he said.

"There is not unanimity in this congregation about homosexuality ... but
there is a very unanimous sense of grace and love and acceptance," Williams
said. That was expressed in the situation with Dammann and again with him,
he said.

A third pastor, the Rev. Katie Ladd, announced at annual conference that she
is homosexual. Ladd is on paid medical disability, Galvan said. Though she
has talked about wanting an appointment, she has not presented the necessary
evidence that she is ready for one and that the conditions that created her
disability have been addressed, the bishop said.
# # #
*Tanton is news editor for United Methodist News Service.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
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