Methodist Divisions Over Gays Intensify

[kweerwolf]

In Virginia, the pastor of a United Methodist church is challenging a decision by his peers to suspend him for a year without pay because he barred a gay man from joining his congregation.

In California, a regional conference of the church voted to protect openly gay clergy members from discrimination and dismissal. And in Pennsylvania, the Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud is fighting a ruling by the church to defrock her after she disclosed to her congregation that she was a lesbian in a long relationship with another woman.

The confluence of the cases underscores the intensifying debate within the denomination on the role of gay men and lesbians in the pews and in the pulpit. The highest judicial body of the United Methodist Church is expected to rule on them when it meets in Houston for one of its two annual gatherings, starting Oct. 27.

The United Methodist Church, the country's third-largest denomination, has struggled for 30 years to define and then further refine its stance on homosexuality. But in its effort to accommodate disparate views, it has fashioned a position that some clergy members say is ambiguous, even contradictory, and people are demanding clarification.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/21/national/21methodist.html