NIC VOICE News Update 04-26-2005 Beth Stroud Case – Stroud Appeal Hearing Set for April 28

NIC VOICE News Update 04-26-2005 Beth Stroud Case – Stroud Appeal Hearing Set for April 28

NIC VOICE is a network of laity in the Northern Illinois Conference of the United Methodist Church.

NIC VOICE posts news related to the Northern Illinois Conference, as well as GC/JC/AC Conference updates at the NIC VOICE web site (www.nicvoice.org).

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

"Hope: In Community"

A sermon by Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud
April 10, 2005
Princeton University Chapel
Princeton, New Jersey

"All of Us"

Acts 2; John 19:19-39

First Sunday after Easter

A sermon by Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud

April 3, 2005

First United Methodist Church of Germantown

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Prayer Vigils Planned

15 Apr 2005

Since Beth has asked for folks to show their support during the appeal hearing (April 28, 2005) by being in prayer for the church, within your own community, we've created a page listing the vigils that we are aware of at this time... Prayers and liturgical resources may also be included (pending your submissions!) that may be of particular use to individuals who are not able to attend a collective vigil. Read More ...

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UMNS News Release:

Appeal begins for former clergywoman who lost credentials

Apr. 26, 2005

NOTE: A photograph of Beth Stroud is available at http://umns.umc.org.

A UMNS Report
By Linda Green*

The appeal begins April 28 for the former United Methodist clergywoman whose ministerial credentials were revoked after a church court ruled she violated denominational law by being a practicing homosexual.

The hearing, to be conducted by the Northeastern Jurisdiction's committee on appeals, will be from 9 a.m. to noon at the Sheraton International Hotel at Baltimore-Washington Airport.

What is the issue?

Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud lost her ministerial credentials after a church trial found her 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 First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia as a lay member. She appealed the verdict last December and requested the hearing be open to the public.

Stroud had publicly acknowledged living in a committed relationship with another woman.

What is the denomination's official policy on homosexuality?

The United Methodist Church, in its Book of Discipline, states homosexuals are people of sacred worth. However, it regards the practice of homosexuality as incompatible with Christian teachings. The church forbids the ordination and appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals." It also forbids the celebration of same-sex unions by its clergy and in its sanctuaries.

More information on the church's policy, along with a history of its struggle over issues related to homosexuality, is available at umns.umc.org.

What is the appeals committee considering?

The nine-member appeals committee, which meets privately on April 27, will consider questions for the hearing as outlined by the United Methodist Church's 2004 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?"

In a previous interview, Stroud said, "There were some questions the church needs to wrestle with that we were not able to wrestle with at the trial." One of her concerns is that Bishop Joseph Yeakel, the retired bishop who presided over her trial, did not allow her counsel, the Rev. J. Dennis Williams, to present testimony about the "overall message" of the Book of Discipline and how it related to her case.

Yeakel ruled before the trial that certain issues were not appropriate for that trial court but should be considered by the church's supreme court or top legislative body.

Committee members will receive briefs from Stroud and the conference as well as transcripts of the trial.

How will the hearing proceed?

After the hearing, the committee on appeals will begin deliberations, which could continue into the next day. The committee's decision will be announced at the hearing site.

According to the Book of Discipline, the committee could reverse in whole or in part the findings of the trial court or it may remand the case for a new trial to determine verdict and/or penalty. The committee may determine what penalty, not higher than the trial court's decision, may be imposed. If the committee decides not to reverse any part of the trial court's verdict or recommend a new trial, or modify the previous penalty, the judgment of the trial court "shall" stand. The committee "shall not reverse the judgment nor remand the case for a new hearing or trial on account of errors plainly not affecting the result."

All decisions by the appeals committee require a majority vote.

How will United Methodist News Service cover the appeal?

Erik Alsgaard, director of communications for the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, will report on the appeal for UMNS. The verdict will be posted as quickly as possible at umns.umc.org, and a wrap-up story or stories will follow.

*Green is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in Nashville, Tenn.

News media contact: Linda Green, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

See Also at UMNS:

Stroud Appeal Coverage

The latest coverage of the April 2005 Beth Stroud appeal as reported by the United Methodist News Service.

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New PRESS ARTICLES since last NIC VOICE News Update:

National Celebration to Include Interfaith Service; Bishop Gene ...
U.S. Newswire (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
3/14/2005 11:21:00 AM

To: Assignment Desk, Daybook Editor

Contact: Dan Wagner, 215-732-3378 ext. 10, Malcolm Lazin, 215-732-7375, both of Equality Forum

News Advisory:

National Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of the GLBT Civil Rights Movement on Sunday, May 1 at Independence Hall will include an Interfaith Service with a sermon by Bishop Gene Robinson, Equality Forum announced today. Other participating religious leaders include the Rev. Beth Stroud; Sister Jeannine Gramick; the Rev. Robert Wood, a Gay Pioneer from the first Gay and Lesbian Civil Rights demonstration in 1965; and the Rev. Steven Baines, Senior Organizer for Religious Affairs at People for the American Way. The Lavender Light Gospel Chorus will perform.

"The Interfaith Service is an important part of the National Celebration," said Malcolm Lazin, Executive Director of Equality Forum. "It reminds America of the growing number of denominations that embrace gays and lesbians as congregants and clergy. It is encouraging that congregations are increasingly offering religious blessings for same-sex unions," Lazin added.

The Interfaith Service is set for Sunday, May 1 from 4 to 5 p.m. at historic Christ Church Philadelphia. Christ Church, located at 2nd and Market Streets, was established in 1695. George and Martha Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Betsy Ross are among the early American patriots who worshipped there.

The Rev. Stroud was recently defrocked by the United Methodist Church for discussing her relationship with her partner. The Vatican tried to silence Sister Gramick for ministering to gays and lesbians. She was the subject of the film 'In Good Conscience'.

Equality Forum 2005 features over 70 programs, parties and special events. More than 105 local and national non-profit organizations and 28 national and international GLBT Executive Directors will be participating. Thirty-two states and the District of Columbia will hold State Receptions on Saturday, April 30.

The Interfaith Service is part of the National Celebration's 16 hours of programs on Sunday, May 1, which include film screenings, a Gay Icons Pavilion at Independence Visitors Center, the National Celebration Concert, celebrity appearances, Conversations with Gay Leaders at the National Constitution Center, entertainment, and a street festival. There will be three parties, including one at the Real World Philadelphia House

Fighting Back
Windy city Media Group - Chicago,IL,USA
LETTERS: Fighting Back by Beth Stroud

2005-03-09

…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. Read More

Community Notes
philly.com - Philadelphia,PA,USA

Beth Stroud Associate pastor, First United Methodist Church of Germantown, talks about experience of coming out to her congregation, her "defrocking" by the United Methodist Church; Men of All Colors Together/Phila sponsors. William Way Community Center, 1315 Spruce St; 215-242-5951. 1:30-3:30 p.m. 4/2. Signed for hearing impaired

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Beth Stroud Trial Commentary: The Confessing Movement

LESBIAN MINISTER FOUND GUILTY
Dr. Ira Gallaway

Just this last week a trial court within the Northeastern Jurisdiction of the Church upheld the Discipline with regard to the practice of homosexuality. The lesbian minister, Rev. Beth Stroud, was found guilty of “practices incompatible with Christian teaching.” Her orders as an Elder within The United Methodist Church were revoked and she was severed from Conference membership.

In compliance with a ruling from the denomination’s highest church court, potential jurors who could not in good conscience uphold church law were asked to step aside from consideration. The verdict on Stroud’s guilt was 12-1.

During the trial, Stroud’s defense argued that because Stroud was well-liked and effective, that church law should be disregarded. Her defense counsel, himself a retired minister, told the jurors that ensuring “equal rights” for homosexual clergy was a “moral issue” that overrode other church standards.

But retired bishop, Joseph Yeakel, who presided over the trial made clear to the jurors that they were bound to consider the facts of the case and apply the church’s policies to these facts. Stroud, in her testimony, confirmed that she remains sexually involved with another woman, who attended the trial with her.

Two witnesses, one the senior pastor under whom Stroud currently serves, and one her former senior pastor who is now a bishop, Bishop John Schol of the Baltimore-Washington Conference, both revealed during their testimony that Stroud had informed them of her lesbianism.

The Bishop did testify during the trial that at the time of Stroud’s public announcement he urged her to consider the possibility of celibacy or transfer to another denomination. Both of which she declined. He then filed the complaint against her that resulted in a church trial. Stroud, during her testimony, recalled that she was surprised that she had been ordained in the first place, because she had been prepared to be honest about her lesbianism with anybody who asked.

While it is good news that this trial court upheld the Discipline of the church and the traditions of the Christian faith on human sexuality, it is a sad commentary on church structure that Beth Stroud was approved for ordination by the Annual Conference and the Board of Ordained Ministry as a United Methodist Minister. Hopefully the result of the church trial is a harbinger of things to come, especially in the Northeastern Jurisdiction and the Western Jurisdiction of the Church.

If those sections of the church continue to challenge and even flaunt the Discipline and biblical authority, then division will come to the Church. The radical agendas of the post-modern, pro-homosexual lobby must not be allowed to trample upon the “faith once delivered to the saints.”

SLAVERY, HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE BISHOPS
Dr. Riley B. Case

Early in its history Methodism claimed more African-Americans than any other denomination. In terms of percentages, by 1820 more than 20% of all Methodists were African-American, and this at a time when nearly a fourth of all Americans were Methodist-related. This only makes more dismal Methodism’s record against slavery after 1830.

Despite the fact that all the early Methodists, in England and in America, from Wesley to Asbury to Freeborn Garretson to Jason Lee preached against slavery as a sin against God and humanity, when Methodists became wealthy enough to own slaves, their moral zeal languished. From preaching that slavery was a sin, Methodists and other Christians in the South shifted the focus to the importance of treating slaves humanely and evangelizing slaves for the kingdom. However packaged, this position was essentially pro-slavery and in violation of the church’s moral stance (and a sin against God and humanity).

The situation in the North was more complicated. Among Methodists some supported slavery. Others (radical evangelicals) were abolitionists and called for stronger stands against slavery and disciplinary action against slave holders. They wondered why, if the church’s stand was so clear against the evils of slavery, was there so much moral compromise. Why no clear Biblical word? In the words of today, where was the “accountability?”

The largest group of Methodists, both north and south, were in what might be called the moderates. Perhaps a better description would be “the compromised middle.” Many, if not most of these, would have indicated they were personally opposed to slavery. At the same time they drew back from any strong stance that might stir up controversy and be called “divisive.” They cautioned against “extremists.” In our present modern-day view of the mid-1800s, we look upon the Underground Railroad as a civil rights movement and those who participated in it as moral heroes. In most Methodist circles, however, in pre-Civil War days, those who participated in the Underground Railroad were trouble-makers and law-breakers.

The “moderates,” in the words of today, desired to deal with the controversy around slavery by appealing to love and understanding and dialogue and getting to know each other and hearing each other’s stories and finding the center of their togetherness in love.

The official church press dealt with the slavery issue primarily by avoiding it. It is possible to read through entire volumes of the Methodist Quarterly Review in the 1840s and 1850s and find almost no references to slavery. This avoidance of the problem was, presumably, in the interest of “unity.” There were abolitionist papers and journals but for the most part they were “unofficial.”

The bishops, meanwhile, were marvels at ambiguity. To put it another way, they were wishy-washy. In the words of Revelation, they were neither hot nor cold. There is no evidence that bishops displayed anything that we today might identify as “leadership” in regard to the slavery issue. Conflicted themselves, they condemned extremists and talked unity. They did not take issue with each other, at least in public. When it was revealed that one of their own, Bishop James Andrew, was a slaveholder and the slavery issue could no longer be avoided, and that a resolution was coming before the 1844 General Conference that Bishop Andrew cease from exercising his office as long as he continued to be a slaveholder, the bishops were discussing a resolution that the matter be tabled for four more years.

When Orange Scott and the Wesleyans could take the charade no longer they separated from the Methodist Episcopal Church. It should be noted that their unhappiness was not so much with the southern church as with the northern church and particularly with the waffling of bishops. The bishops did not waffle when dealing with “troublemakers” however, and that was in large part why the Free Methodists were driven from the Methodist ranks in 1859.

History seems to be repeating itself with the homosexual issue today. A group in the church and the Confessing Movement believes that homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian teaching. Just as slavery struck at the moral fabric of what Christian teaching is all about, so with homosexual practice. Many United Methodists wonder why we are even discussing this issue. The Scripture seems clear; tradition seems clear; and the church at all times and in all places has overwhelmingly supported this view.

Some others, however, argue differently. God is doing new things and has evidently revealed to a select few that homosexuality is a gift to be celebrated, or at least, not to be condemned. Some argue homosexual practice is a cultural issue and that what is wrong, say, in Africa, is not necessarily wrong in California. Still others argue that “inclusivity” (a newly discovered Biblical value) takes precedence over all other values meaning the church should be accepting of all people regardless of their moral behavior and that the rejection of homosexual practice is the rejection of the persons who are homosexual and thus a sin against God. Not to be accepting of homosexual practice is to be “hate-filled.”

Then there is the vast middle, perhaps better labeled “the compromised middle.” This group deplores “extremists” whether of the “right wing” or the “left wing.” (It is a curious state of affairs when what has in all times and all places been considered to be the teaching of the church is suddenly discovered to be “right wing.”) They would like to be know as moderates. Numbers in this group are either not aware of the struggle taking place in the church today over homosexuality or, if they are aware, believe that the people who feel strongly about the issue should set aside their “prejudices” for the sake of unity and move on to more important things. Out of this group comes the suggestion that if we engage in more dialogue and conversations and get to know each other better and hear each other’s stories we could find our center of unity in love and homosexuality would no longer be a divisive issue.

The official church press, like the church press before the Civil War, cannot bring itself to publicly affirm and support the Discipline in the area of homosexuality. One can read through ten years of Response or Christian Social Action or New World Outlook or Circuit Rider and not find a single article affirming the church’s stance on homosexuality. At the very least this creates confusion in the minds of a number of people as to what the church really believes.

The bishops, for their part, are no help. Like the bishops on the matter of slavery in the mid-1800s, the bishops are themselves conflicted. There is no prophetic word. There is no guiding word. There is no sure word. The bishops are reduced to ambiguous statements about respecting each other and working for peaceful resolution. A number of bishops do not personally believe in the church’s stance, and their bias shows.

In some annual conferences, candidates for ministry are denied membership for being “rigid,” that is, for believing what the church has always taught about homosexuality. It was the bishops (not the plenary session itself) who gave permission for the General Conference to be disrupted by pro-homosexual-practice supporters with their placards condemning the stance of the church as “hate-filled.” At least twenty seven bishops stood in solidarity with that message.

Is it any wonder that many ordinary observers, inside or outside the church-despite what the Discipline says, and despite the number of conferences and bishops who do support the church’s historic moral stance— characterize United Methodism as pro-gay? Is it any wonder that a number of individuals and families, and even some churches, find it difficult to be enthused about such a compromised denomination?

Despite the church’s announced position, the church’s ambiguous actions have the effect of permission-giving to the acceptance of homosexual practice.

What will happen to the United Methodist Church in the coming years over the issue of homosexuality? It is discouraging to think that we might continue to walk down the same path that has characterized us in the past few years; continual political maneuvering, disruptive strategies that undermine the Discipline, accusations against brothers and sisters, resolutions on unity that provide no help in bringing about that unity, and conflicted bishops. If “moderates” are not, as this article suggests, compromised then let them show us that it is not so. Let this group lead the church in honest debate, straightforward and clear paths of action that will bring resolution, and inspired leadership. The United Methodist Church has been used by God to bring about marvelous things in the past. Can we not hold out to believe that God can do that still into the future?

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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

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