UMC Conservative Condemns Lesbian Pastor's Reinstatement
by Jim Brown
May 13, 2005
(AgapePress) - An evangelical renewal ministry within the United Methodist Church is voicing its dismay over the decision by the denomination's appeals committee to reinstate the clergy credentials of a lesbian minister from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Recently, the Northeastern Jurisdictional Committee on Appeal voted overwhelmingly to reverse the defrocking of Beth Stroud, who announced in a 2003 sermon that she was living in a so-called "covenant relationship" with another woman.
Although the evidence of Stroud's homosexual relationship was "uncontradicted and overwhelming," the regional panel voted 8-1 to nullify Stroud's defrocking. The reason for the regional panel's ruling, ostensibly, was because many of the terms under which the lesbian minister had been disciplined have never been adequately defined by the proper church authorities.
Pastor Tom Lambrecht, a Wisconsin minister and chairman of the board of the Methodist renewal ministry "Good News," suspects certain parts of the church of subtly trying to circumvent the denomination's decision on the issue of homosexuality. "I think the hierarchy is wanting to push forward an agenda that is not in agreement with where the grassroots of the church is at," he says.
Lambrecht is decrying the appeals committee's decision to restore Stroud's clerical credentials, which were stripped when a UMC trial court found her guilty of "practices that are incompatible with Christian teachings." The renewal advocate feels the trial court's decision was the correct one, and he notes, "Every person in the church wants to see the church open to all people who want to come to know Jesus Christ. But that doesn't mean that we want to include or endorse what the Bible calls sinful behavior of any kind."
The Good News ministry chairman feels this latest verdict, which reverses the trial court's sentence, has only served to create confusion and tarnish the image of the UMC. "The unfortunate thing is that it makes headlines every time something like this happens," he says, "and we lose hundreds, if not thousands of members across the country who are fed up with a church that can't maintain its biblical standards."
Lambrecht says he is pleased that the ruling of the Appeals Committee will be referred to the United Methodist Church's Judicial Council, the highest court in the denomination. The conservative pastor believes the Judicial Council will most likely overturn Stroud's reinstatement, thereby affirming the original trial court judgment against her.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
