Gay Right Supporters Protest against UMC's Trial on Lesbian Pastor

BOTHELL, Washington - In Bothell United Methodist Church northeast of Seattle, the trial of the homosexual Pastor Rev. Karen Dammann finally begun on 17 March.

At Dammann's request, the trial will be opened to the public after jurors were chosen. The trial has attracted many different groups of people, including the demonstrators who try to stop a church trial that could remove a lesbian from the Methodist ministry for living openly in a lesbian relationship.

Outside Bothell UMC, about 100 people demonstrated loudly but peacefully, and many blocked church officials from entering the building. Most of the demonstrators are members of Soulforce - a group that advocates the full inclusion of gender and sexual minorities in the life of mainline denominations. Police arrested 42 people when they refused to move until 11: 30 am.

Soulforce members had been standing in the rain at the church since about 7 a.m., carrying signs urging "non-cooperation" with the trial. They sang songs such as "This Little Light of Mine" and handed out red carnations, on which quotes the word of Mahatma Gandhi: "It is as much our moral obligation not to cooperate with evil as it is to cooperate with good."

In addition, Soulforce protesters handed out a two-page flier explaining why they were trying to stop the trial. The Soulforce group encouraged jurors not to serve because in doing so they would be supporting what Soulforce views as an unjust United Methodist law. The group urged the bishops not to convene the trial but to send a message "to the United Methodist Church and to the nation that the unjust persecution of sexual and gender minorities must end."

In preparation for the trial, the Rev. Craig Parrish, Pacific Northwest Conference treasurer, had 24 volunteers from 11 area churches to keep everything smooth and calm. Wearing "Peacekeeper" credentials and reflective vests, they were to check credentials of those entering the Bothell church.

Dammann did not return several calls seeking comment. She has just married her partner of nine years last week in Portland, Oregon, where Multnomah County officials have begun allowing same-sex marriages.

Before she did tell The Seattle Times she wanted to move the culture toward open acceptance of gay and lesbian relationships.

"We wanted to add our relationship to all the others that stand to be recognized," she told the newspaper.

In 1987, there had been a similar case in UMC which credentials of the Rev. Rose Mary Denman of New Hampshire were revoked. This is the first trial since then, according to UMC officials.

The final judge of the case probably will be of paramount importance in representing the view of Christianity towards gay marriage.