Dammann Trial Update - 12:00 PT,March 18

"The whole world is watching us," said Bishop William B. Grove as he convened the second day of the church trial of an openly gay Washington clergywoman. At the same time, he added, "?and perhaps more comforting, the whole church is praying for us." Boyd said he had received many "grace-filled" e-mail messages.

After lighting a candle symbolizing the presence of the Holy Spirit and leading the approximately 200 trial principals, jurists and observers present in prayer, he declared court in session at around 9:15 a.m.

The defendant, the Rev. Karen Dammann and her partner, Meredith Savage, sat together with their 5-year-old son Beckett at a table with their counsel. Beckett wore a sign that read "My Momma is of sacred worth." Early in the proceedings, Savage carried the boy out of the courtroom.

The Rev. James Finkbeiner, counsel for the church ("prosecutor"), called his first witness -- Bishop Elias Galvan, who presides over the Pacific Northwest Conference and filed the charges against Dammann.

Introducing a key piece of evidence, he read portions of a letter Dammann wrote the bishop in which she asked to be appointed to a church as an openly gay pastor. She was pastor of First United Methodist Church, Ellensburg, Wash., until placed on family leave by Galvan as of March 1. Finkbeiner said her "personal integrity" led her to make the request. "Karen has testified [at previous hearings] that she wasn't afraid" to be open about who she is, he noted, despite the fact that church law prohibits appointment of "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals."

Finkbeiner's asked the bishop why he brought the charges against Dammann. Galvan answered that he felt obligated to follow the Book of Discipline (church law). He acknowledged that there is a difference of opinion on the subject and stated that "Rev. Dammann is trying to test the Discipline."

During cross-examination, the Rev. Robert Ward, defense counsel, posed the rhetorical question, "Do we have the right person on trial?" He cited decisions rendered by other church bodies along with a conference clergy vote of affirmation last year as support of her ministry. As he began to ask Galvan about another local openly gay clergyman still serving a church, Finkbeiner objected twice on grounds of confidentiality. Presiding Bishop Boyd sustained his objections.

(www.umc.org)