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On April 27, 2003 Associate Pastor Beth Stroud declared herself an “openly lesbian, fully-credentialed United Methodist Minister.” In May of 2004 Bishop Weaver: Peter D. Weaver, then leader of the Eastern Pennsylvania United Methodist region, filed a formal complaint against Beth citing a violation of the United Methodist Book of Discipline. The following excerpts are from the United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline that states the denomination’s position on homosexuality in the church community and clergy. The UMC is organized into conferences. The highest level is called the General Conference and is the only organization that may speak officially for the UMC. Legislative changes are recorded in The Book of Discipline and revised after each General Conference. (From The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church - 2000. Copyright 2000 by The United Methodist Publishing House.) For more information please visit www.umc.org, the official online ministry of the United Methodist Church. The official statements on Human Sexuality, Equal Rights Regardless of Sexual Orientation and Marriage can be found in the Social Principles of The United Methodist Church. Other related statements include: Regarding church membership ¶4. Article IV. Inclusiveness of the Church The United Methodist Church is a part of the church universal, which is one Body in Christ. Therefore all persons, without regard to race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition, shall be eligible to attend its worship services, to participate in its programs, and, when they take the appropriate vows, to be admitted into its membership in any local church in the connection. In The United Methodist Church no conference or other organizational unit of the Church shall be structured so as to exclude any member or any constituent body of the Church because of race, color, national origin, status, or economic condition. ¶214.5 Eligibility The United Methodist Church is a part of the holy catholic (universal) church, as we confess in the Apostles’ Creed. In the church, Jesus Christ is proclaimed and professed as Lord and Savior. All people may attend its worship services, participate in its programs, receive the sacraments and become members in any local church in the connection (¶4). (In the case of persons whose disabilities prevent them from assuming the vows, their legal guardian[s], themselves members in full covenant relationship with God and the Church, the community of faith, may recite the appropriate vows on their behalf.) Regarding the ministry of the ordained ¶304.3 While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. Since the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, self-avowed practicing homosexuals* are not to be accepted as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church. * "Self-avowed practicing homosexual" is understood to mean that a person openly acknowledges to a Bishop Weaver:, district superintendent, district committee of ordained ministry, board of ordained ministry, or clergy session that the person is a practicing homosexual. See Judicial Council Decisions 702, 708, 722, 725, 764, 844. ¶332.6 Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches. Regarding the General Council on Finance and Administration ¶806.9 [The General Council on Finance and Administration of The United Methodist Church] shall be responsible for ensuring that no board, agency, committee, commission, or council shall give United Methodist funds to any gay caucus or group, or otherwise use such funds to promote the acceptance of homosexuality. The council shall have the right to stop such expenditures. This restriction shall not limit the Church’s ministry in response to the HIV epidemic.
About Rev. Stroud's decision to annouce her sexual identity Her "Walking In The Light" sermon (including video excerpt) Bishop Weaver's interview about Rev. Stroud's decision The United Methodist Book of Discipline's stance on homosexuality Essay by Jamie Stroud, Ph.D. (Rev. Stroud's mother) Additional links for gay, bisexual, lesbian & transgender rights activism Visit Beth Stroud's own website (bethstroud.info) Copyright © 2004 Video Vérité. All rights reserved
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