NIC
VOICE
News Update 03-06-2005
Beth Stroud Case – Stroud Appeal Hearing Set for April 28
Other news of interest across the UMC included in
NIC VOICE
news updates are now being posted in the
NIC VOICE forum at
Faithful Christian Laity Discussion Forum.
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View previously released
NIC VOICE
news updates on the
Beth Stroud Case here:
http://www.faithfulchristianlaity.org/discussion/viewtopic.php?t=191.
NIC VOICE
news updates
published during the trial week and after have been posted on the
NIC VOICE
web site:
http://www.nicvoice.org/beth_stroud_trial_updates.htm
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New at Beth Stroud Web Site:
Updates
on Beth’s Appeal
Does the Beth Stroud Legal Defense Fund have sufficient funds to
cover the appeal?
24 Feb 2005
Due to the generous outpouring of support, we believe that we have
enough funds in the Legal Defense Fund to cover expenses associated
with the hearing by the Northeast Jurisdictional Committee on
Appeals.
Read More ...
About the Appeal
22 Feb 2005
Dear friends,
First, thank you all so much for your many supportive emails, cards,
letters, gifts, and contributions to my legal fund. Chris and I have
tried to answer as much of the paper mail as we can, but there is
still much more to answer. We have barely even begun to answer the
more than 2,000 e-mails we have received since the trial. I have
received many invitations to speak, but because I am still working
full-time at First United Methodist Church of Germantown, I can only
accept a very few. We want you to know that we feel and appreciate
the impact of your care, support, and prayers.
I learned last week that the Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee
on Appeals will hear my case on Thursday, April 28 (from 9 a.m. to
noon at the Sheraton International Hotel, on the grounds of
Baltimore Washington International Airport).
As you may know, I am appealing several decisions of law that were
made during the trial and may have affected the outcome. The two
most important of these are: first, Bishop Yeakel's decision not to
permit persons to serve on the trial court if they felt that their
conscience conflicted with the law; and second, his decision not to
allow any arguments about the justice or constitutionality of the
law on which the charge was based.
The public portion of the hearing will be very brief: only my
counsel, the counsel for the church, and members of the Committee on
Appeals will speak. The Committee on Appeals will deliberate in
private and their decision may not be released to the public until
the following day.
I have requested that the appeal hearing be open because I believe
it can be an important educational moment for The United Methodist
Church. However, I do not need or want a large presence of
supporters there in person. What would feel most supportive to me
personally would be for concerned people to be in prayer wherever
you are -- and perhaps even to gather with others at your church or
in your community to pray for me, for everyone involved in the
hearing, and for the whole denomination.
Through this process, I have learned more and more just how powerful
loving relationships can be. You might also take this opportunity to
share your own personal story with someone you care about whose
views of homosexuality and Christianity are different from your own.
Straight allies have stories, too. You could use the day of the
appeal hearing to write a loving, personal letter, make a phone
call, or have coffee with someone you care about. I've been amazed
at how deeply and respectfully people can listen when they sense
that they are also being respected and listened to. And I've been
impressed with how broad and varied the spectrum of opinion in the
United Methodist Church really is. Some people I would have
stereotyped as "conservative" or "reactionary" have really surprised
me with their thoughtful, reflective responses.
Meanwhile, as you pray, here are some of the specific things I am
praying for these days: For clarity and humility to stay focused on
my day to day ministry in my own church and my local community. For
times of Sabbath quiet and rest, to hear what God might be trying to
say to me. For healthy balance and perspective, and to remember
that, whatever may be happening in my life, it continues to be a
life of comfort and privilege and ease and joy.
Blessings,
Beth Stroud
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New PRESS ARTICLES:
UMNS:
Stroud Appeal Hearing Set for April 28
-----Original Message-----
From: UMNS GLBT News [mailto:UMNS-GLBT-NEWS@UMCGROUPEMAIL.ORG] On
Behalf Of NewsDesk
Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2005 5:45 PM
To: UMNS-GLBT-NEWS@UMCGROUPEMAIL.ORG
Subject: [UMNS-GLBT-NEWS] UMNS# 05097-Stroud appeal hearing set for
April 28
Stroud appeal hearing set for April 28
Feb. 16, 2005 News media contact: Linda Bloom * (646)
3693759* New York {05097}
NOTE: A photograph of Beth Stroud is available in the Photo Gallery
at http://umns.umc.org.
A complete archive of UMNS Stroud coverage, with additional online
resources, is available at http://www.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=2&mid=6102.
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
An April 28 hearing date has been set for the appeal of a former
United Methodist clergywoman who lost her credentials after a church
trial.
The hearing for Beth Stroud will be 9 a.m. to noon at the Sheraton
International Hotel on the grounds of Baltimore-Washington Airport.
Stroud, who was serving as associate pastor of First United
Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia, was found guilty
Dec. 2 of violating the denomination's prohibition of "self-avowed
practicing homosexuals" in the ordained ministry. Since losing her
clergy credentials, she has remained on staff at that church as a
lay member.
The December trial was conducted by the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual
(regional) Conference, which is a part of the denomination's
Northeastern Jurisdiction. The jurisdiction's committee on appeals
will hear the appeal.
The committee will meet in private on April 27 to consider
questions for the hearing, said the Rev. William "Scott" Campbell,
committee chairman and pastor of Harvard-Epworth United Methodist
Church in Cambridge, Mass. Committee members already will have
received briefs from Stroud and the conference as well as
transcripts of the trial, he said.
Stroud has requested the hearing be open to the public, Campbell
said. After the hearing, the committee on appeals will begin its
deliberations, which could continue into the next day if needed. The
committee's decision will be announced at the hearing site, but no
time has been set.
According to the United Methodist Book of Discipline, Paragraph
2715.7, "the appellate body shall determine two questions only: (a)
Does the weight of the evidence sustain the charge or charges? (b)
Were there such errors of church law as to vitiate the verdict
and/or the penalty?"
"There will be an opportunity for each party to present its case
orally," Campbell said.
Substitutions have been made for two of the standing members of the
appeals committee because those who come from the same episcopal
area as Stroud - which includes the Eastern Pennsylvania and the
Peninsula-Delaware conferences - are not eligible to participate in
the hearing.
The committee's clergy members hearing the appeal will be Campbell;
the Rev. LaGretta Bjorn of Spring Valley, N.Y.; the Rev. Ronald
McCauley of Buckhannon, W.Va.; and the Rev. John Topolewski of
Owego, N.Y. Lay members will be Joy Wilcox of Etters, Pa., diaconal
minister; Dale Dobbs of McVeytown, Pa., full-time local pastor;
Julius Archibald of Plattsburgh, N.Y.; Sharon Bassett of Cicero,
N.Y.; and N. Sharon Leatherman of Williamsport, Md.
# # #
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New
York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or
newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Beth Stroud Trial Case Date, Specifics Released
The Christian Post
By Paula Chang
NIC
VOICE
Editor’s Note: Links to web sites
added to below excerpt:
The famed United Methodist
ex-clergywoman who lost her credentials for violating church laws
prohibiting the ordination of active homosexuals will appeal her
case to the church court on April 28, 2005.
Friday, Feb. 18, 2005 Posted: 9:45:16AM
EST
The Rev. William "Scott" Campbell, committee chairman and pastor of
Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church in Cambridge, Mass,
said committee members already will have received briefs
from Stroud and the conference as well as transcripts of the trial.
The committee’s clergy members hearing the appeal will be Campbell;
the
Rev. LaGretta Bjorn of Spring Valley, N.Y.; the
Rev. Ronald McCauley of Buckhannon, W.Va.; and the Rev.
John Topolewski of Owego, N.Y. Lay members will be Joy Wilcox of
Etters, Pa., diaconal minister; Dale Dobbs of McVeytown, Pa.,
full-time local pastor; Julius Archibald of Plattsburgh, N.Y.;
Sharon Bassett of Cicero, N.Y.; and N. Sharon Leatherman of
Williamsport, Md.
Read More
LancasterOnline.com
Pastor sketches 'human face' on sexuality
By Daniel Burke
Lancaster New Era
Published: Feb 17,
2005 1:41 PM EST
LANCASTER COUNTY, PA - A Methodist pastor defrocked for breaking
church rules barring homosexuals from ordained ministry said here
Wednesday that “being a Christian is about standing up for what you
believe is true. ”But the Rev. Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud, an
associate pastor at the First United Methodist Church in Germantown,
was more interested in relating her “personal journey” than talking
about the church proceedings.
<snip>
Church leaders at First Methodist encouraged Stroud to become an
ordained minister and she entered a seminary in New York City.
Frustrated and lonely, she gave up on the idea of becoming a pastor
for a time, before hearing a call beckoning her back to ministry.
Through the ordination process, Stroud said that the issue of her
sexuality was never discussed, though “at least one person on every
committee” knew that she was a lesbian.
If asked, she would have told church officials that she did not
plan to remain celibate, she said. Stroud has a female partner.
To those congregations she does address, she said after Wednesday’s
luncheon talk, she hopes “to start a conversation in some place
where people haven’t talked about the issue” of homosexual clergy.
Read More
Just Heard Beth Stroud Speak
by
pastordan Wed Feb 16th, 2005
at 11:12:46 PST
<snip>
Perhaps the most illuminating part of the session, however, was the
Q&A. Stroud answered one for herself: why, she said she'd been asked
many times before, are you not more angry?
Her response: she'd been angry for a long time before the trial,
which seemed to her the "logical conclusion" of her struggle. And
yet, she remains hopeful that something positive can come of this,
especially if she can help people to see the issue not as a matter
of abstract principles, but as about a human being.
Other exchanges (paraphrasing much of this):
·
Is there any hope to change the Book of Discipline at the Methodist
General Convention? Yes, and it's worth it to try. The church will
still be divided no matter what we do, but trying to change the Book
of Discipline is less divisive than a judicial outcome.
Read More
Out In The Mountains : News - Beth Stroud Continues Fight
...
Beth
Stroud Continues Fight
Former Minister Will Appeal
Methodist
Church’s Decision. Germantown, PA –
Beth
Stroud, who was stripped
...
Bryn Mawr Now: Beth Stroud to Appeal
Bryn Mawr Now is the Public Affairs
Office's weekly online newsletter covering events at the College.
Each Thursday when a new issue is posted at
www.brynmawr.edu/news , about 2,500 people are
notified by e-mail, and other visitors check the page regularly for
news. Headlines for the College's homepage and the faculty, staff
and parent gateways are drawn from
Bryn Mawr Now.
January 13, 2005: BETH STROUD '91 TO APPEAL LOSS OF ORDINATION
Former United Methodist minister Beth Stroud '91, who was defrocked
in early December by a jury of clergy that found her to be a
"self-avowed, practicing homosexual," has decided to appeal the
verdict
Because church trials are rare and the appeals process is seldom
invoked, Stroud and her legal team face even more uncertainty than
the typical appellant in a secular court. But Stroud has some
experience with the vagaries of the church's legal process.
"I hesitated before taking this step," she said in an interview,
"because it has already been a lengthy and arduous process. But what
happened in the trial was a lot of listening and growth. I think
that many people who participated were prompted to reconsider their
positions on church law. Continuing the process can help the church
reach clarity on this issue — and on whether this is where it wants
to be."
If Stroud's appeal fails, she will be unable to regain her
credentials unless the United Methodist Church General Conference
decides to amend the
Book of Discipline
at its next worldwide meeting in 2008.
She also has the option of leaving the Methodist church for another
denomination that clearly affirms homosexuals' fitness for the
ministry.
Stroud says she hasn't plotted a post-appeal course, but would find
it difficult to leave her church.
"I'm very profoundly called to ordained ministry," she acknowledges,
"but strangely, this process has made me feel more Methodist than
ever. My conversations, even with people who disagreed with me, have
been so rich.
"And I think I might be able to create more positive change in the
world by staying where I am, as a lay minister, than by moving to
another denomination where things might be easier for me," she
explains.
"Ultimately, I love the United Methodist Church, and I want to see
it do the right thing, whether soon or a long time from now."
Read More
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Other News of Interest:
Christians
clash on gay unions
The Capital Times -
Madison,WI,USA
Opponents of
state ban rally at Capitol
By Anita Weier
February 23, 2005
Christians opposed Christians inside and outside the State Capitol
on Tuesday.
As an interfaith group called Christians for Equality in Wisconsin
rallied against a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at
preventing gay marriage or civil unions, a few supporters of the
amendment interrupted their speeches with shouts of "Liar!"
"Abomination!" and "Perversity!"
<snip>
One new voice was retired Bishop Donald Ott of Pewaukee, who
formerly served as bishop of the United Methodist Church for the
state of Michigan.
Conceding that his own church is divided on the issue, Ott said that
Wisconsin is in danger of taking a direction that will harm people.
"Too many Christians and too many clergy are remaining silent," he
said. "The amendment, if passed, is discriminatory in ways contrary
to our state and national heritage and our religious foundation of
equality as children of God."
Read More
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News Updates Previously Released by
NIC VOICE
Regarding Beth Stroud Trial:
Pre-Trial Updates (posted at the NIC VOICE Forum at Faithful
Christian Laity)
Collection of Trial and Appeal Press Reports at Beth Stroud’s Web
Site
