United Methodist Church Reverses Church Trial Verdict, Reinstates Lesbian Minister

By Pauline J. Chang, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, April 30, 2005

A United Methodist appeals committee on Friday nearly unanimously overturned an earlier church court ruling that stripped a sexually-active lesbian pastor of her ministerial credentials.

Citing two “legal errors,” the nine-member Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals voted 8-1 to reinstate Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud. The decision was announced after an open-public trial that began Thursday at the Sheraton International Hotel near Baltimore-Washington International Airport.

Stroud is the third lesbian United Methodist minister who faced the church court since the denomination passed a law in 1984 that banned openly homosexual pastors from the pulpit.