United Methodists defrock lesbian minister

Djaughe · December 3rd, 2004, 07:42 AM

United Methodists defrock lesbian minister

Pottstown, PA, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A United Methodist Church jury near Philadelphia has defrocked a practicing lesbian for openly breaching church policy, the Inquirer reported Friday.

The Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud was ordered to surrender her ministerial license Thursday for "engaging in practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings" because she is a practicing lesbian.

Her fellow clergy voted 7-6 to defrock Stroud, who had been associate minister at First United Methodist Church of Germantown. The lead prosecutor, the Rev. Thomas Hall, told the jurors "the only penalty possible" was to defrock Stroud, because the denomination's highest court recently declared "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" to be "unappointable."

"We have no delight in finding a colleague guilty of the charges in this case," he said. "The evidence was clear and convincing. We believe that church law is absolutely clear."

An estimated two-thirds of the world's United Methodists support their denomination's ban on gay clergy, though there is an active, vocal dissident camp.

Stroud, who asked for and received a trial that was open to the public, brought on the proceeding when she used a sermon last year to disclose her "covenant relationship" with another woman.

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