Methodist Panel Upholds Anti-Gay RulingBy Michael Conlon
CHICAGO (Reuters) - The United Methodist Church's top court has refused to reconsider its ruling that a minister acted correctly when he refused church membership to a gay man, the church announced on Tuesday.
The nine-member Judicial Council was split on the matter, however, reflecting the continued divisions within many churches on the treatment of homosexuals in matters ranging from same-sex marriages to roles in the clergy.
The tribunal reaffirmed a decision made last October that the Rev. Edward Johnson of the South Hill, Virginia, United Methodist Church was within his rights for refusing to admit a homosexual man to church membership and should not have been suspended for doing so.
The earlier ruling said Johnson followed church law that gives the pastor-in-charge the right to decide who can be received into membership. It said he should be reinstated and given back pay to July 1, 2005, when he had been removed by his bishop.
The presiding bishop of the Virginia Conference, Charlene Kammerer, and the Board of Ordained Ministry of the Virginia Conference had asked the panel to reconsider its earlier ruling.
But in decisions posted on the church's Web site, the panel said no errors had occurred in the decision-making process and "we believe that reopening this matter, especially where no grounds have been demonstrated to do so, will further polarize the various parts of the church."
But some panel members who dissented from the ruling said in a separate opinion "Season after season, we hear the words of invitation to communion offered by the pastor/celebrant in the following words, 'Christ invites to his table ...' The invitation and the gift of Christ are extended by the pastor. . It is Christ's invitation, not ours."
Last year the same panel ordered a lesbian minister defrocked after she acknowledged her relationship with another woman, though a church trial in 2004 found a Seattle clergywoman, not guilty of "practices incompatible with Christian teaching," even though she was in a same-sex relationship.
The United Methodist Church, the third-largest U.S. denomination, has 8.25 million lay members and nearly 45,000 clergy in more than 35,000 local U.S. churches. It also has another 1.86 million members in 12 other countries.
Judicial Council denies reconsideration of two decisionsMay 2, 2006
By Neill Caldwell
OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (UMNS) — The United Methodist Judicial Council has rejected appeals to reconsider two decisions that have created much debate within the church.
The council voted not to revisit Decisions 1031 and 1032, issued last October and related to the case of the Rev. Ed Johnson of South Hill (Va.) United Methodist Church, who blocked a practicing homosexual man from taking membership in the church.
Johnson was placed on involuntary leave last June by his clergy peers in the Virginia Annual Conference, and Bishop Charlene P. Kammerer upheld the action. But in Decision 1031, the Judicial Council ruled that Johnson’s due process rights were violated when the conference transformed an administrative complaint against him into a judicial complaint. And in Decision 1032, the council made a much more far-reaching ruling, saying that the senior pastor of a local church does have the right to determine a person’s readiness for membership.Following the rulings, Kammerer returned Johnson to the South Hill pulpit.
The two rulings created much protest across the denomination from those who said the decisions stood in contrast to the spirit of the church’s theme of “Open Hearts. Open Minds. Open Doors.” The decisions also triggered official appeals from Kammerer and the Virginia Conference Board of Ordained Ministry, as well as briefs from the principals in the case and numerous friends of the court.
During the council’s April 26-28 meeting, about 50 demonstrators held a silent vigil in the public areas of the Embassy Suites hotel where the court met. The group, which included clergy, laity and students from around the country, wanted the council to reconsider and overturn Decisions 1031 and 1032 (see related story).
The Judicial Council issued short memos (1040 and 1041) declaring it would not reconsider the two rulings. Four of the Judicial Council members joined in writing dissenting opinions, and three members signed a concurring opinion. The court has nine members.