April 29, 2005
BALTIMORE (UMNS) - Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud, who was found guilty of violating United Methodist church law and had her clergy credentials withdrawn last December, won her appeal in a decision announced April 29.
Stroud had appealed the clergy court's Dec. 2 decision to the Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals, which met at a hotel near the Baltimore-Washington International Airport April 28-29.
The clergy court had found her guilty of violating denomination law, which forbids the ordination and appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals." Stroud had disclosed that she was living in a committed relationship with another woman.
The appeals committee upheld part of the trial court's finding but overturned the verdict based on legal error. The committee's 8-1 vote means Stroud is automatically reinstated as a pastor.
"The verdict and the penalty are reversed and set aside," the committee said in its ruling.
The appellate committee was asked to rule on two questions relating to Stroud's case: did the weight of the evidence sustain the charge or charges, and were there such errors of church law as to invalidate the verdict and or the penalty?
"Although the committee believes that the evidence in support of the charge was overwhelming and would be sustained in the absence of legal error, the committee concludes that legal error vitiates the verdict on two independent grounds," the committee said in its ruling.
The committee went on to cite an earlier ruling by the United Methodist Church's supreme court, the Judicial Council, regarding the rights of ordained elders - "members in full connection" - to an appointment or ministry in the church. One of the legal errors involved the deprivation of due process for Stroud, the committee said.
"First, Judicial Council Decision No. 702, which binds this committee, makes it legal error - namely, a deprivation of due process - to try, convict and deprive a member in full connection of her right to an appointment pursuant to Paragraphs 304.3 and 2702.1B of the (Book of) Discipline when, as in this case, neither the General Conference nor the pertinent annual conference has defined the words, 'practicing homosexual' and 'status,'" the committee said.
The General Conference is the church's top legislative assembly.
The committee then cited the Book of Discipline and the denomination's restrictive rules.
"Second, it was error to try and convict the appellant on the basis of Paragraph 304.3 because that provision constitutes a 'new standard or rule of doctrine' which has not been declared by the General Conference to be 'not contrary to the present standards,' in violation of the First Restrictive Rule and Paragraph 102 of the Discipline."
After the committee's decision was announced, the Rev. Tom Hall, counsel for the church, said he was not sure if the church would appeal. Any appeal would have to go to the Judicial Council.
Speaking at a press briefing after the ruling, Stroud said she had a "sense of relief and hope."
"This result gives me hope that the United Methodist Church has resources to do justice," she said. Asked what was going through her mind when the decision was announced, she said she was glad she wouldn't have to make the next decision - that is, whether to appeal an unfavorable ruling to the Judicial Council.
Though her clergy credentials are restored, Stroud said she was "not going to exercise the functions of ordained ministry." In a press briefing after the hearing April 28, she told reporters that "until the process is concluded, I am not going to exercise the ministry of an ordained person, even if the committee rules in my favor."
"I'm not going to do that because ordination really is a sacred trust, and it's too sacred to just be kind of put on like a suit of clothes you're going to have to take off four months later," she said. "So regardless of the decision … I will not be exercising the ministry of an ordained person until the whole process is concluded."
At the time of the clergy court's decision, Stroud was serving as associate pastor of First United Methodist Church in Germantown, Pa. She had served in that capacity since July 1, 1999. After the December verdict, she was employed as a lay staff member at the church.
In April 2003, Stroud wrote a letter to her congregation, stating that she was a lesbian living in a committed relationship. She also shared this information in a sermon at the church that same month.
Her disclosure led to a series of meetings, held in accordance with the Book of Discipline, called "Supervisory Response." The confidential process sought to achieve a just resolution.
When that didn't happen, Bishop Peter Weaver, then-leader of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, began a judicial complaint process in March 2004. That process ultimately led to the trial, held at Camp Innabah, located near Pughtown, Pa.
The Rev. William "Scott" Campbell, pastor of Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church in Cambridge, Mass., chaired the committee, which included five clergy and four lay members. Because the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference conducted the original trial, alternate members of the appeals committee were seated.
The full text of the committee's decision is available as a PDF document.
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Erik Alsgaard is managing editor of the UMConnection newspaper and co-director of communications for the Baltimore-Washington Conference.