Third Methodist Lesbian Trial Case Opens in Pennsylvania

Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud, the United Methodist minister facing trial for her violation of denominational laws that prohibit the ordination of "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals," strutted into Andy's Court Building at Camp Innabah with her lesbian partner at hand, Dec. 1, 2004.

Stroud, a UMC minister in Philadelphia, declared in a sermon last year that she had been living in a relationship with her partner for over two years, despite church laws that clearly warn against such acts.

The trial, which is expected to last through the week, began with a closed-door session of 13 jurors from the regional clergy.

Stroud said she found out about her sexual orientation while she was attending Bryn Mawr College. After graduating from Union Theological Seminary in New York City, she was ordained ad assigned as associate pastor to Philadelphia's First United Methodist Church of Germantown.

Two years later, she held a "covenant ceremony" with her partner at a church related to the United Church of Christ – which allows homosexuals’ ordinations and "marriage" ceremonies.

Stroud's case marks the third lesbian trial in the United Methodist Church, since the denomination adopted a law barring "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from the ministry in 1984; the law was upheld with a 72 percent vote at the denomination's General Conference in May.

In the first of such cases, the Rev. rose Mary Denman of New Hampshire was found guilty and was defrocked in 1987. In the second trial, Rev. Karen Dammann was acquitted; the controversial trial held a muddled verdict: although the court found she was indeed a "self-avowed practicing homosexual," it found her not guilty of violating church laws. Stroud's case will no doubt raise tension within the conservative and liberal factions of the UMC, which is currently undergoing a study on homosexuality.




Pauline J. Chang
Ecumenical Press