Methodist Bishops Protest Ruling in Exclusion of a Gay Congregant

[kweerwolf]

A recent decision by the highest court of the United Methodist Church to reinstate a pastor suspended for barring a gay man from his congregation has touched off widespread alarm within the denomination and prompted the Council of Bishops, the church's elected leadership, to issue a unanimous rebuttal.

Like other mainline denominations, the United Methodist Church, the country's third-largest denomination, has been struggling with the role of gay men and lesbians in the pews and in the pulpit. The church has traditionally welcomed gay people, though it does not ordain "self-avowed practicing homosexuals.".

On Monday, the Church's Judicial Council, its equivalent of the Supreme Court, ruled that the Rev. Edward Johnson had rightfully used his pastoral discretion in refusing to accept an openly gay man as a member of his church in South Hill, Va.

Many Methodists had expected an outcry over the decision from liberal congregations clustered mainly in the Northeast and the West Coast. But Methodists all over the country, including those from historically conservative regions, have voiced alarm at the decision, lay and clergy members said. Stephen Drachler, a church spokesman, said that its headquarters in Nashville had received about 400 e-mail messages on the issue and that the Council of Bishops had received about 200. About two-thirds of the messages opposed the ruling, Mr. Drachler said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/05/national/05methodists.html

[dsc]

1. I am glad to see this

I was honestly much more upset at this decision than the one defrocking the minister. Gays would have to feel unwelcome after that decision.