Methodist Activist: Pastors -- Not Bishops -- Have Say on Church Membership
by Jim Brown
April 4, 2006
(AgapePress) - - A conservative United Methodist activist is taking issue with bishops who want the denomination's top court to re-examine its decision in a case involving homosexuality and church membership.
The United Methodist Council of Bishops has filed a brief asking the Judicial Council to reconsider its ruling that allowed Virginia pastor Ed Johnson to deny church membership to a homosexual man. They have also written a pastoral letter claiming homosexuality is not a barrier to church membership.
But Dr. Jim Heidinger with the Methodist renewal group Good News says the UMC's Book of Discipline makes it clear that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
"To say that we are discriminating on the basis of homosexual orientation is not an accurate statement," says Heidinger. "And when they said homosexuality is not a barrier, we were disappointed because they didn't clarify whether they were referring to orientation or the inclination, perhaps, or if they were referring to homosexual practice."
Pastor Johnson denied church membership to an unrepentant homosexual. The clergyman was placed on involuntary leave by Virginia Bishop Charlene P. Kammerer, but was later reinstated by the Judicial Council. Heidinger contends that pastors in the denomination have the right to bar unrepentant homosexuals from joining their church. He believes the Council's ruling should stand.
"We think -- [and] I think, personally -- the senior pastor has the right to make the call about ... someone, to determine [that person's] readiness for ministry," says the conservative activist. "Certainly a bishop is not in a position to make the call; a [district superintendent] doesn't know. The tradition in Methodism and United Methodism for many years is, that's the senior pastor's call."
When the Judicial Council meets in Kansas late next month, it will decide whether to reconsider the ruling. In the meantime, Bishop Kammerer has reassigned Pastor Johnson to another church. Heidinger questions the bishop's motives, noting there is no compelling reason to move him. The church members, he says, want Johnson to stay.
Jim Brown, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
