NIC VOICE
News Update
12-10-2004 Beth Stroud Case – Press & Commentary
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news updates
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This news update contains links to various Commentaries and
Press Articles since the last update.
This is a lengthy update.
PRESS ARTICLES:
(Note: These articles may be archived to another link after
seven days of publication.)
Beth Stroud: Reflections, News & Views
This link is to an article posted by
CorNet with a summary and links to various articles.
Philadelphia
Inquirer (subscription) - Philadelphia,PA,USA: Articles
posted on Beth Stroud
1
Letters | Readers Respond
The defrocking of Beth Stroud should be regarded as a very
shallow victory for the conservative faction of the United
Methodist Church. The only thing more shocking than her
rationalization of her Christian ministry while carrying on
a relationship as a practicing lesbian is that the clergy
vote to defrock her was only 7-6.
While we should feel sympathy for Stroud, the far greater
tragedy is the impending fate of the United Methodist
Church.
Monday,
December 6, 2004 (Philadelphia Inquirer)
2.
Methodist trial over, it's back to ministries
By Jim
Remsen / Inquirer Faith Life Editor
Hall, 52, of Elverson, said the case was his maiden voyage
into church trials, at which council, judge and jury are all
clergy. Local Methodist officials asked him to be
prosecutor, he said, "because they felt I could argue the
case effectively but also bring a pastoral dimension. They
said, 'We did not want to present ourselves as a big machine
against this defenseless creature.' "
During the proceedings, Hall pressed Stroud, 34, about her
sex life and her awareness - as she stated in a "coming-out"
sermon last year - that she was risking her pastoral
license. But he did not bore in like a grand inquisitor and
was generally a soft-spoken presence.
"In the end, I felt there was some pastoral care given,"
Hall said after services yesterday. "I affirmed Beth as a
good person and a great pastor, and I wanted that to be
heard."
Monday,
December 6, 2004 (Philadelphia Inquirer)
3.
'Power in Reverse'
The following excerpts are from Beth
Stroud's final
sermon prior to her church trial and defrocking last week on
charges of violating the United Methodist Church ban on
openly gay clergy. Titled "Power in Reverse,"
In my case, thanks to this congregation and your incredible
commitment to do what you believe is right, I don't even
risk losing my health insurance.
I owe other leaders and authority figures my respect and
compassion, but ultimately my deepest trust belongs only to
Jesus. In that faith knowledge, I find my freedom to
question earthly leaders and to respectfully dissent. That
same faith knowledge of Jesus as Lord has proved powerful in
history. That vision of Jesus, and no other, as Lord
inspired the Confessing Church in Germany to resist Hitler.
A vision of Jesus, and no other, as Master filled African
American slaves in this country with hope for their own
freedom. Jesus is Lord means there is no other Lord.
Sunday,
December 5, 2004 (Philadelphia Inquirer)
4.
Gay rights and Methodism
To assess the nature of the feud - and the prospects for a
resolution - Faith Life spoke with the Rev. Dr. Bruce W.
Robbins, who spent 12 years as general secretary of the
United Methodist Church's General Commission on Christian
Unity and Interreligious Concerns. In that role, Robbins
arranged churchwide dialogues on homosexuality and worked to
bring the various sides together. Robbins now pastors a
church in Minneapolis.
[Dr. Robbins] I argue that two things need to come to pass
for the denomination to hold together on this issue. Persons
who believe gays and lesbians should be fully included in
the life of the church need to find space to act out of
those beliefs while being United Methodists. For instance,
they must be able to conduct holy unions in another
[non-Methodist] building without charges being brought. Or
some [state] conferences would have the right to ordain
gays... .
On the reverse side, there need to be ways United Methodists
who believe homosexuality is contrary to the Gospel don't
have to support, financially or otherwise, persons in those
roles. Each congregation pays an apportionment to support
the general church, and it shouldn't have to support, say,
places where gay and lesbian ministers practice.
But this has not been proposed formally anywhere. Our church
has become extremely polarized on the issue, so there's not
been much room for discussion of compromises.
Sunday,
December 5, 2004 (Philadelphia Inquirer)
Gay ex-minister says sad goodbyes
Philadelphia Daily News (subscription) - Philadelphia,PA,USA
While lay members can assist in communion, Stroud declined
that role. She remained seated in the first row, she said,
"acknowledging the change in my status" after receiving the
bread and grape juice from Day and an aide.
Stroud is defrocked but hardly deflocked. She will continue
her work at the church - evangelizing, counseling,
preaching, mentoring the confirmation class - as a lay
employee. But she cannot perform baptisms or consecrate the
bread of communion.
United Methodists find lesbian guilty of violating church
law
BP News - Nashville,TN,USA
"How sad that
this case required a trial," Tooley said. "And how sad for
Beth Stroud that no authoritative church figure during her
ordination process or during her pastorate, until she 'came
out' to her bishop, ever effectively counseled her about the
church's policies. Those who winked at Stroud's defiance of
church policies did neither her nor the church any favors.
"In a culture awash with sexual confusion, which
particularly affects the young, it is especially important
for the church to make a clear witness about sexual ethics,"
Tooley added. "We should expect this of our Christian
leaders, especially our clergy."
How can ousting gays be Christian?
Daily News (subscription) - KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa
After a lifetime of being a Methodist, I am ashamed and
saddened and angered at what that church has done.
I ask your forgiveness for my stupidity all those years.
I will try to forgive and pray for them, but I will not
support or be any part of it any more.
Clergy member says he is disappointed jury voted to defrock
...
Oneonta Daily Star - Oneonta,NY,USA
On a personal level, I’m profoundly disappointed, but not
surprised," said the Rev. Thomas Clemow of the First United
Methodist Church in Oneonta.
The penalty was a bigger disappointment, Clemow said.
"They had an option," he said Sunday. "They could have left
her orders intact."
Instead, the jury voted 7 to 6 to "defrock" Stroud.
The split represents the split in many churches — and the
United Methodist Church as a whole — across the nation,
Clemow said.
Clemow said he would have been surprised had the primary
outcome been any different, considering the official law of
the church.
Religion Today
(AP Report)
Miami Herald (subscription) - Miami,FL,USA
However, their arguments were entered into the trial record
and will re-emerge if Stroud appeals to the Northeastern
Jurisdiction and, beyond that, the national Judicial
Council.
Stroud is undecided on that and will announce her plans
after Christmas. An appeal might seem automatic but she
wonders, "If I were to win on an appeal, is it healthy for
the church for a decision to be made judicially that as many
as two-thirds of Methodists may disagree with?"
Whatever Stroud does, the Rev. Troy Plummer of Reconciling
Ministries is calling on jurors in future cases "to keep
their conscience," practice "jury nullification" and acquit
openly gay clergy - no matter what church law says.
And there surely will be other cases if Reconciling
Ministries is correct that Methodism has "hundreds, if not
thousands" of other homosexual pastors, seminarians,
district superintendents and bishops.
Lesbian Methodist Minister Defrocked
Gay City News – USA
“This congregation decided roughly 15 years ago to become a
reconciling congregation that’s fully inclusive of gay and
lesbian people in all aspects of its life and ministry,” she
explained. “When we made that decision, the church went
through a very long process where it was important that
everyone be heard and everyone have a chance to speak. As a
result, some of my strongest supporters in the congregation
are people who then had a different perspective on
homosexuality than they have now. I would like my brothers
and sisters throughout the UMC to have the same opportunity
for conversion and transformation on this issue that members
of my congregation had.
“There are still a lot of people in our country, including
church ministers, who don’t realize that they’ve ever met a
gay person,” Stroud continued. “In the same way that when I
came out to my family, the issue of homosexuality became far
more personal for them and they became much more actively
supportive, loving and caring, it is my hope that some of
the same thing may happen in the church.”
Stroud acknowledged, however, that as many as two-thirds of
UMC members worldwide still believe that the rule barring
openly gay or lesbian people from the ministry is correct.
HUMAN RIGHTS DAY: Good News for Gays in US Churches
Inter Press Service (subscription) - World
”There is a great deal of intolerance out there among
various denominations,” conceded Smith, who just spent two
days at the trial of Beth Stroud, a United Methodist
minister whose credentials were revoked Monday because she
is a lesbian in a committed relationship.
Gay-clergy ruling may signal a shift for Methodists
Chicago Tribune (subscription) - Chicago,IL,USA
Liberals, however, saw the result against Rev. Irene
Elizabeth Stroud of Philadelphia as a case of the church's
"shamefully" caving in to "cultural prejudice" against gays
and lesbians.
Those are the words of the Reconciling Ministries Network,
an alliance of 192 congregations and other Methodist groups
that favors "full participation of people of all sexual
orientations and gender identities." The network branded
Stroud's ouster as sin and blasphemy.
Minister is defrocked for being a practicing' lesbian
Gay People Chronicle - Cleveland,OH,USA
“The United Methodist Church’s deceptive marketing slogan is
‘Open Hearts, Open Minds, and Open Doors,’ but the church’s
heart, mind and doors are not open to gay, lesbian, bisexual
and transgender people,” said Laura Montgomery Rutt,
communications director for Soulforce, a non-denominational
group that works to make churches more inclusive.
“This verdict shows the blatant hypocrisy of the United
Methodist Church and poignantly illustrates the spiritual
violence that the church perpetuates against LGBT people,
both inside and outside the church,” she continued, noting
that Soulforce defines spiritual violence as “the misuse of
religion to sanction the condemnation and rejection of any
of God’s children.”
COMMENTARIES:
REQUIRED READING:
Transforming Congregations Trial Report
Trial Day 1
Trial Day 2
Commentary
Press Release
By Karen Booth, Executive Director
Transforming Congregations
Posted December, 2004
REQUIRED READING:
IRD: Lesbian Methodist Minister Held Accountable at Church
Trial (December
2, 2004)
Lesbian Minister Urges Ignoring Church Law
(December 9, 2004)
Ban on Homosexual Clergy is Unconstitutional, Stroud Defense
Wanted to Argue
(December 8, 2004)
By Mark
Tooley
United Methodist Action Director
Institute for Religion and Democracy
A Response to the Trial of the Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud
By Kathryn J. Johnson, Executive
Director
Methodist Federation for Social Action
December 2, 2004
An Open Letter to Four Bishops Involved in the Trial of Beth
Stroud
By Kathryn Johnson, MFSA Executive Director
Methodist Federation for Social Action
December 8, 2004
Church Within A Church Movement Responds to Guilty Verdict
of Rev.
Beth Stroud
Response issued by
Cathy Knight
Marketing/Development Director
Church Within A Church
December 2, 2004
Beth Stroud Loses Credentials
(as posted by CorNet)
By Troy G. Plummer
Executive Director
Reconciling Ministries Network
(click this link to see this
release under “Latest News” with pictures)
December 2, 2004
Young United Methodists Saddened and Disappointed by UMC
Contact: Barbara Wheeler
Public Relations
On Fire! is a group of United Methodist young adults
reclaiming our Wesleyan heritage of spiritual and social
transformation.
December 3, 2004
Stroud 's Credentials Stripped: Statement by Peggy R.
Gaylord, Affirmation
By Rev. Peggy R. Gaylord, Co-Spokesperson
National Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns
Affirmation
December 3, 2004
Amazing Grace Under Fire
By Rev. Peggy R. Gaylord, Co-Spokesperson and Rev. Vivian R.
Waltz, Chair of Communications
National Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, and Transgender Concerns
Affirmation
December 6, 2004
Parents Reconciling Network Responds to Beth Stroud Trial
By Jerry Longwell
PRN Steering Committee Facilitator
Parents Reconciling Network
PRN is an organization of United Methodist parents of Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered children.
Posted December 8, 2004
Soulforce: Rev. Beth Stroud found “guilty” by the United
Methodist Church for “practices ‘incompatible’ with
Christian teaching”
Release by: Laura Montgomery Rutt
Soulforce Press Release
December 2, 2004
A Public Statement from the Rev. Dr. Troy D. Perry, Founder
& Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches
By Troy Perry
MCC Communications Department
Metropolitan Community Church
December 2, 2004
The Beth Stroud Case: Why The Jury Did the Right Thing
By Shane Raynor
The United Methodist Site Your Pastor Warned You About
Wesley Blog
December 3, 2004
The following links are posted at
CorNet and this information is also available at
www.bethstroud.org:
The Day After Message from Chris Paige
"This is the day that the Lord has made." from Chris Paige
Ubi caritas et amor, ubi caritas Deus ibi est
Beth Stroud: Reflections and Responses
NEW INFORMATION:
Beth Stroud .info
The story of a lesbian United Methodist clergywoman in
Philadelphia
TRIAL UPDATES:
New
Material available at
http://thecongregationmovie.com/
09 Dec
2004
Susan and
Alan Raymond have just released some additional material
developed during production of "The Congregation"
-
Learn
what Beth's mother has to say about her daughter's
sexual orientation and the United Methodist Church
-
See
Beth's comments before her 'coming out' sermon
-
View a
video excerpt from Beth's 'coming out' sermon
-
Read
what Bishop Peter Weaver (president of the Council of
Bishops) had to say about Beth's decision to 'come out'
-
Find
out more about the history of this remarkable
congregation.
-
What
did the documentary film-makers get themselves into?
Read their thoughts.
Thank you for your all victorious love.
07 Dec
2004
Rev. Day's
Prayer (December 2, 2004)
Witness and Response
06 Dec 2004
We are now
compiling reflections both from people who witnessed the
trial, as well as other responses to the verdict. We hope
that this sharing will be of encouragement to everyone who
is struggling with the news of the verdict.
