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Elizabeth Stroud
Irene Elizabeth (Beth) Stroud is a United Methodist pastor, ordained in 1997, whose credentials as an ordained minister were revoked because she is in a committed relationship with another woman.[1] The United Methodist Book of Discipline prohibits "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from being appointed as pastors. She had been an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church of Germantown (FUMCOG), in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she still serves as a lay leader. The congregation of FUMCOG, as well as many other United Methodists, disagree with the United Methodist Church's position and support Beth Stroud.
Contents
Timeline
On 2003 April 27, Beth Stroud stated in a sermon that she is a lesbian living in a covenant relationship with her partner Chris Paige.
On 2004 July 23 and again on 2004 October 11, an investigating committee voted to send the case to a church trial. At the trial on 2004 December 2, the jury found her guilty of "violating 2702 1b of the Book of Discipline by engaging in a practice declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teaching" and stripped her of her credentials as an elder in the United Methodist Church.
On 2005 April 29, the Northeast Jurisdictional Committee on Appeals reversed the ruling. Bishop Marcus Matthews restored her credentials, and appealed the case to the Judicial Council. He offered Beth an appointment at FUMCOG, which she refused because she did not want to take an official appointment while the legal process was still ongoing.
In a ruling released on 2005 October 31, the Judicial Council once again removed Stroud's credentials. The same day, they approved another pastor's refusal to admit a gay man to his congregation.
See also
- Homosexuality and Christianity
- list of Christian denominational positions on homosexuality#Methodism
References
- ↑ Beth Stroud biography. Retrieved on 04-11-07.
External links
| This article is based on a GNU FDL LGBT Wikia article: Stroud Elizabeth Stroud | LGBT |
