Pacific
Northwest Annual Conference Faces Issue of Homosexual Clergy, Judicial Council Rules
Compiled
from United Methodist News Service reports
The
United Methodist Church’s supreme court has ruled that the denomination’s
book of laws does not contradict itself regarding the appointment of openly gay
and lesbian clergy to congregations.
The
United Methodist Judicial Council, meeting Oct. 24-26, affirmed that the
denomination’s Book of Discipline forbids the appointment of “self-avowed
practicing homosexuals” as pastors of local churches. The nine-member court
went on to say that declaring involvement in a same-gender relationship would be
enough to subject a pastor to a review of his or her standing as a minister.
The
case was one of 12 heard at the semi-annual session of the Judicial Council.
Three of the docket items decided by the nine-member council related in some way
to the church’s policies on homosexuality.
The
Pacific Northwest Annual (regional) Conference had asked the council to make a
declaratory decision on what its members saw as an apparent conflict between two
rules found in the church’s Book of Discipline. One states that “a
self-avowed practicing homosexual” may not be accepted as a candidate for the
ordained ministry, become a clergyperson or, if already a pastor, be appointed
to serve a congregation. The other rule guarantees ministerial appointments to
all clergy in good standing.
A
clergywoman in the conference had written a letter last February to Bishop Elias
Galvan of Seattle, declaring that she was “living in a partnered, covenanted
homosexual relationship with another woman.” The conference asked whether that
statement was sufficient to make her ineligible for an appointment.
The
clergywoman, the Rev. Karen Dammann, did not receive an appointment from the
bishop last summer. A second clergy person, the Rev. Mark Edward Williams of
Seattle, also did not receive an appointment after announcing at Pacific
Northwest Conference’s gathering last June that he was a practicing gay man.
Instead, he was placed in a staff position at his church, and his district
superintendent was named acting pastor pending the Judicial Council’s
decision. Neither Dammann nor Williams were mentioned by name in the council’s
Oct. 26 decision.
The
Judicial Council ruled that the clergywoman’s statement is a sufficient
declaration to subject “her ministerial office,” or status as a minister, to
review. “If, in the course of such review, such person affirms that she is
engaged in genital sexual activity with a person of the same gender, she would
have openly acknowledged … that she is a self-avowed practicing homosexual,”
the council said in its decision.
“However,
the prohibition of appointment … must be exercised in compliance with the
rights of all persons who are in full membership,” the decision continued. The
council said that the bishop may not take unilateral action to deny her a church
appointment. Only the annual
conference can determine a change in a clergyperson’s status, the council
said. “The annual conference must be informed of the declaration, and the
annual conference and/or the resident bishop or district superintendent must
initiate proceeding to subject her membership in her ministerial office to
review.”
In
early December, Bishop Elias Galvan of Seattle filed formal complaints against
the two openly gay United Methodist pastors, initiating a process in which the
clergy members’ ministerial standing will be reviewed.
The
complaints were filed at the direction of the United Methodist Judicial Council,
Galvan said in a Dec. 12 statement. The bishop said he had filed formal
complaints against the Rev. Karen Dammann and the Rev. Mark Edward Williams with
the office of the Rev. Robert Hoshibata, Seattle District superintendent.
Hoshibata and the Rev. Elaine Stanovsky, Puget Sound District superintendent,
have been assigned to initiate the supervisory responses to the complaints.
“This
conference will proceed with great care and compassion so that Karen and Mark
are treated with the respect that innocent parties are due in a
pre-investigation environment,” Galvan said in a Dec. 12 statement. “And we
will hold that they are innocent until proven otherwise. Our prayers are with
all of those involved in this proceeding.”
“After
consultation with Karen and Mark, both have been appointed and both are now
engaged in ministry,” Galvan said in a Dec. 10th letter to Pacific Northwest
clergy and lay members. “Additionally, I want you to be aware that, as
directed by the Judicial Council, I have filed formal complaints against Karen
and Mark with the office of the Seattle District superintendent, the Rev. Robert
Hoshibata.”
If
a resolution is not achieved through the supervisory response process, “then
the bishop is asked to determine whether there are grounds to refer the
complaints to the counsel for the church,” Galvan continued. The counsel will
then draft and sign a judicial complaint and send it to the conference committee
on investigation, “which serves somewhat like a grand jury in the civil
courts,” he said.
The
committee will investigate and determine whether grounds exist for a church
trial, he said. If so, a trial will be convened in accordance with the Book
of Discipline, he said. Citing the book, Galvan noted that church trials
should be regarded as a last resort.
“Complaints
against any clergy person strain the covenant among us,” he said. “No matter
how these complaints are resolved, this will be a very painful process for the
entire annual conference, and especially for these two persons. I ask you to
pray and to lead your churches in prayer for Karen and for Mark and for their
families and loved ones, for the Woodland Park United Methodist Church, and for
all who may be involved in this process along the way.”
Dammann
told United Methodist News Service that she had expected the complaint and
wasn’t shocked, but she was still stunned when she learned that it finally had
been filed. Hoshibata and Stanovsky called her Dec. 10 to discuss the complaint.
She
had received an appointment the week before, and the details are still being
worked out. The job will involve doing research and possibly producing a
resource on the chaplaincy that could be used by annual conferences and
churches, said Dammann, a former chaplain. The research could be done from her
home in Massachusetts, where she lives with her partner and their son. She had
been serving a Seattle-area church until going on family leave in 1999. Her
family leave ended last July 1.
The
first stage of the supervisory process involves seeking reconciliation and
resolution, and Dammann expressed doubt about whether that end could be
achieved. Her suspicion, she said, is that one side or the other wouldn’t be
happy with the resolution and that true reconciliation wouldn’t occur. The
issues surrounding her good standing as a pastor have not been resolved, she
said, adding: “I’m not contesting the homosexual issue.”
“I
still feel called,” she said. “... In my heart of hearts, I am called to be
a pastor in the United Methodist Church, so I’m not going to abandon that, but
I also know and have come to understand that I am a homosexual person.”
She noted, “There are other denominations. I don’t see myself staying
part of the United Methodist Church if my credentials are taken from me.”
