Lesbian Minister to Be Reinstated

April 29, 2005

PHILADELPHIA — A lesbian Methodist minister defrocked last year for openly admitting to living with another woman has won her appeal against the church's decision, the United Methodist Church said on Friday.

A statement on the church's Web site said a committee hearing the appeal by Elizabeth Stroud in Baltimore reversed the ecclesiastical court's December decision that stripped her of her credentials as a minister at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, Philadelphia.

She was allowed to have a lesser role in the church but could not perform ceremonies such as baptisms and weddings.

An appeals committee has reversed a clergy court verdict in the case of Irene Elizabeth Stroud, the statement said.

It gave no immediate reason for the decision. Statements from the church and from Stroud were expected to follow.

Stroud, 34, was found to have violated the church's Book of Discipline, which forbids the ordination and appointment of self-avowed practicing homosexuals.

Stroud told the hearing she was in a committed relationship with another woman and had decided to be open about her sexuality because it was the honest, Christian thing to do.

Her stance was backed by many members of her Philadelphia congregation.

The United Methodist Church says on its Web site it has some 8.25 million lay members and nearly 45,000 clergy in more than 35,000 local U.S. churches. It also has another 1.86 million members in 12 other countries.