Methodist Bishop Requests Church Court Reconsider Ruling on Va. Pastor

by Jim Brown and Jody Brown
February 6, 2006

(AgapePress) - - Liberal United Methodist leaders in Virginia are appealing the reinstatement of a pastor who was suspended without pay for denying church membership to an unrepentant homosexual.

In October, the United Methodist Judicial Council ruled that Pastor Ed Johnson should be reinstated and that Bishop Charlene Kammerer had overstepped the authority of her office in punishing the South Hill pastor. But now Kammerer and the Virginia Conference Board of Ordained Ministry have filed an appeal, citing "errors" in the court's ruling.

The United Methodist News Service reports that in a January 27 statement, Bishop Kammerer said it is crucial for the Judicial Council to review the ruling because it has "brought harm to the Body of Christ represented in the United Methodist Church." In addition, she stated that the homosexual man who sought membership in Johnson's church "was already a member in good standing of the Church Universal," of which the UMC is a part, according to Kammerer. She also pointed out that "all the United Methodist Church membership ritual calls for is that such a person promise loyalty to the United Methodist Church."

Methodist activist Mark Tooley with the Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) believes the Virginia bishop is looking for technicalities to circumvent the Judicial Council's ruling. Tooley states he is confident that "a majority of the members" of that body have a "fairly sound understanding of United Methodist law."

For that reason, he says it is likely the Judicial Council "avoid[ed] any significant errors in their ruling that local church pastors do have lawful discretion in terms of determining who is ready for church membership and who is not."

Tooley explains that Kammerer rejects the denomination's stance on homosexuality and its law granting pastors discretion regarding church membership. And rather than publicly challenge the UMC's teaching on homosexuality, says the IRD spokesman, Kammerer would rather challenge the Council on the basis of perceived technical inaccuracies.

"It's very important to understand," he explains, "that many of those who are most vocal about overturning the Judicial Council's decision are, in fact, pushing for the [United Methodist] Church to overturn its underlying teachings about marriage and sexual ethics -- especially if they touch on homosexuality."

Tooley says despite the fact most United Methodist bishops are theological liberals, the UMC as a whole is slowly moving in a more orthodox direction.

According to the United Methodist News Service, Kammerer's motion for reconsideration has been placed on the "non-docket" agenda for April 26-28, meaning that at least five members of the Judicial Council must agree to reconsider the decision.