HOUSTON — An openly gay United Methodist minister lost her bid to return to the pulpit Oct. 31, when the church’s highest court upheld her conviction on charges of being a “self-avowed practicing” lesbian. In a separate decision that could have even wider implications, the church’s Judicial Council said gays and lesbians have no automatic right to church membership and upheld the power of local pastors to turn them away.
The twin rulings represent a major setback for liberals, who advocate greater inclusion of homosexuals in the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination, and served to reinforce church policy on homosexuality as ironclad. Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud, the openly gay pastor at the center of the debate, called it a “sad day” for the 8.3 million-member church. The council ruled 6–2 against Stroud, who disclosed her homosexual relationship in 2003. A church court convicted her last December of conduct that is “incompatible with Christian teaching” and revoked her ordination. Conservative church leaders praised the court decisions for affirming decades-old church policy. (TAB)
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