NIC VOICE
News Update
05-05-2005 Updates from UMNS and Beth Stroud web site, Press &
Commentary
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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 UMNS Coverage
Stroud
Appeal Coverage
Eastern Pennsylvania Conference to appeal Stroud decision
Beth Stroud speaks to reporters after winning her appeal April 29.
May 4, 2005
A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom*
An appeal of the recent decision to reinstate the credentials of a
former United Methodist pastor will be filed with the denomination’s top
court.
Bishop Marcus Mathews, who presides over the church’s Eastern
Pennsylvania Annual (regional) Conference, announced May 3 that he was
authorizing legal counsel "to proceed immediately with filing an appeal
with the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church."
The appeal will be filed within the allotted 30-day period, by May 29.
The Judicial Council’s next regularly scheduled meeting is Oct. 26-29 in
Houston.
Last December, a trial court of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference
found Irene Elizabeth (Beth) Stroud guilty of violating the
denomination’s prohibition of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" in
the ordained ministry. Stroud, who was associate pastor of First United
Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia, lost her clergy
credentials but remained on staff of the church as a lay person.
On April 29, the Northeast Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals set aside
the trial court’s verdict and penalty because of legal errors and
reinstated Stroud to clergy standing.
In a May 3 telephone interview, Stroud told United Methodist News
Service she had met with Matthews that morning. She said the bishop
returned her ordination credentials and offered to reappoint her to her
former position, but she declined the appointment until her case is
concluded.
"I thought the right thing for me to do was to turn it down," she said,
explaining that she did not want to be a "political football" for
various parts of the denomination. "That could just trivialize what
ordination is and means."
Stroud said she would be placed on voluntary leave of absence as a
clergy member but would continue her work as a lay minister at First
United Methodist Church.
"While losing my credentials in the trial was painful for me and for my
family and for the whole congregation, it has also been for me a time of
healing and reconciliation," she told United Methodist News Service.
Stroud characterized the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference as a "close
little family" that she’s been involved with for years, and she has
appreciated the opportunity to be open and honest with people about her
committed relationship with another woman, Chris Paige.
Although she has received some "very negative messages from people that
I don’t know," Stroud said that all who do know her "have been very
loving and very respectful…and have wanted to know about my journey and
learn from it."
The entire experience, she believes, "can teach and model a way of
talking about this issue that is more honest, more open, more Christian
and more respectful."
Stroud said she has realized that while some very strong liberal and
conservative voices are heard on homosexuality within the denomination,
"there are an awful lot of people in the middle who have never had a
serious conversation about this issue at their church."
Her case, she hopes, will "put a human face on something that otherwise
might be abstract."
*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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New
at
Beth Stroud Web Site:
Updates
on the appeal process Updated 5/3/05
Appeal to Judicial Council
03
May 2005
Dear friends and family,
I
met with Bishop Marcus Matthews today. In light of last week's appeals
committee ruling, he returned my ordination credentials to me, and
offered me an appointment: as associate pastor at First United Methodist
Church of Germantown, with full rights and responsibilities of an
ordained minister. I declined to be appointed, which I will explain a
bit more below.
Bishop Matthews also told me today that he will be appealing last week's
ruling to the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church.
I
expected that my case would go to the Judicial Council. It is a case
that could have implications for the entire church, and so it is only
right for the church's highest judicial body to review it. I trust that
Bishop Matthews will continue to see that the case is pursued in the
most civil manner possible.
Here is why I declined Bishop Matthews' offer to appoint me to First
United Methodist Church of Germantown: Accepting an appointment would
mean taking up the ministry and authority of an active, ordained elder
in the church while my case is still in process and the outcome is
uncertain. I do not want my ordination to be a symbol of who is
"winning" or "losing" in a controversy at any given moment. When I do
put my robes back on, whether that is at the conclusion of my case or in
a number of years when the General Conference changes its unjust
legislation, I want that to be simply a symbol of the sacred trust among
me, God and the larger church.
I
will continue serving in my role as a lay minister at First United
Methodist Church of Germantown until my case is concluded. Officially, I
will be on voluntary leave of absence, but it is a "leave of absence"
from my duties as an ordained minister of the Annual Conference -- not a
leave of absence from First United Methodist Church of Germantown.
We
will keep you posted with more information as we go along. Thanks, as
always, for all of your love and prayers.
In
Christ,
Beth Stroud
Frequently Asked Questions Updated 5/3/05
Does the Beth Stroud Legal Defense Fund have sufficient funds to cover
appeal expenses?
03 May 2005
While
we do not yet know what expenses will be involved in taking the appeal
to the Judicial Council, the Beth Stroud Legal Defense Fund is again
accepting donations in preparation that process.
How to contact the Beth Stroud Legal Defense Fund
How
do you talk to conservatives?
02 May 2005
Through this entire process, Beth has been working hard to avoid
divisive politics and, when possible, to engage in thoughtful dialogue
with those who hold different opinions on homosexuality. Often this
happens in quiet one-on-one conversations away from the media spotlight.
We offer the following link to Shane Raynor's interview with Beth on the
"Wesley Blog" as an example of people with different points of view
working to find common ground. Both Shane and some of his readers
sometimes articulate perspectives that make us uncomfortable, but we
respect his blog as a place where genuine dialogue can take place.
Beth Stroud Interview with the Wesley Blog
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Commentary on the Beth Stroud Case – Recommended Listening
Audio & Written Commentary by
Reverend Jay Voorhees
Antioch United Methodist Church, Antioch Tennessee
Church Profile
Profile: Jay Voorhees
Audio Commentary:
Click here to link to an Audio Commentary which includes perspectives on
the Stroud case from a discussion with
Bishop Dick Wills and Jay Voorhees:
http://www.onlywonder.com/Methocast/Methocast_050305.mp3
(mp3 format)
Methocast
for 5/3/2005
03 May 2005 23:42:00
-0500
First Upper Room
Devotional
Reflections on Beth
Stroud Case
Prayers for Nellie Moser
Listen:
Written Commentary at
methoblog:
Friday, April
29, 2005
<snip>
As I read the ruling of the appeals committee, the sentence was not
reversed on the facts of the case, but upon the reality that that due
process was not offered in accordance with the
Book of Discipline
based on earlier decisions of the Judicial Council as regards the
requirements for sanctioning homosexual clergy.
The quick and dirty of it is that until the General Conference and/or
the Annual Conference definitively define what is meant by “practicing
homosexual” and “status.” We have wanted to keep things general, not
getting too specific. According to this committee, that is no longer
possible.
The other issue, according to the committee, is a belief that in
establishing this rule, the General Conference has in fact created a new
doctrine (since it refers to compatibility with Christian
teaching). Until the General Conference officially declares that this
teaching is not in conflict with our traditional doctrines, the General
Conference is violation of Restrictive Rule Number 1, which states that
the General Conference may not establish new doctrines (without first
changing the constitution).
I can hear folks grumbling that this is simply technical maneuvering to
bypass the will of the General Conference. However, the General
Conference has legislated itself into this mess. If we are going to
uphold the power of the book (The
Discipline,
that
is) then we have to go by all the rules, not simply the ones we like.
<snip> Read
More
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New PRESS ARTICLES since last
NIC VOICE
News Update:
Methodist Church to Appeal
Lesbian Pastor Ruling
Christian Post - San Francisco,CA,USA
The recent decision to reinstate an openly lesbian Methodist pastor will
be appealed at the denomination’s Supreme Court, a bishop announced
Tuesday.
Thursday, May. 5, 2005 Posted: 12:44:34AM EST
Bishop Marcus Matthews, the overseer of the church’s Eastern
Pennsylvania Conference, said he was authorizing legal counsel “to
proceed immediately with filing an appeal with the Judicial Council of
the United Methodist Church.”
<snip>.
Once the Pennsylvania conference files an appeal, it will be considered
by the church’s highest court, the Judicial Court, during its regular
biannual meeting in October.
Read More
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UMNS Coverage
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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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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