Methodist Church to Appeal Lesbian Pastor Ruling

The recent decision to reinstate an openly lesbian Methodist pastor will be appealed at the denomination’s Supreme Court, announced a bishop on Tuesday.

Bishop Marcus Matthews, overseer of the church’s Eastern Pennsylvania Conference, said he was authorizing the legal counsel “to proceed immediately with filing an appeal with the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church.”

According to the United Methodist News Service, the appeal will be filed within the 30-day window that ends May 29.

The decision to appeal marks the latest twist in one of the most controversial cases in the UMC’s church court history.

Last December, a trial court of the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference found Rev. Elizabeth Stroud guilty of violating the denomination’s law against ordaining self-avowed practicing homosexuals.

Stroud, who served as an assistant pastor of First United Methodist Church of Germantown in Philadelphia, appealed the court ruling that had stripped her of her credentials.

On April 29, the Northeast Jurisdiction Committee on Appeals heard Stroud’s case and ruled that the earlier court ruling was invalid because of legal errors. The appeals committee, however, took pains to emphasize that Stroud’s guilty verdict was based on sound judgment.

Once the Pennsylvania conference files an appeal, it will be considered by the church’s highest court, the Judicial Court, during its regular biannual meeting in October.