Methodist Jury Convicts Lesbian Minister Thursday, December 2, 2004 Posted: 2:11 PM EST (1911 GMT) http://www.cnn.com/2004/LAW/12/02/methodists.gays.ap/index.html PUGHTOWN, Pennsylvania (AP) -- A jury made up of United Methodist Church clergy convicted a lesbian minister Thursday of violating church law by openly living with her partner in a committed relationship.The Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud could be defrocked as a result of the ruling, which came on the second day of her church trial. The same 13-member jury was set to meet Thursday afternoon to decide her penalty. Methodist law bars "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" from ministry. Nine votes were necessary for a conviction and the jury voted 12-1 to find Stroud guilty. The Lord God has spoken!
I see a porno coming from this. "De Frocking. Starring Devon." Actually, Methodist ministers from Pennsyvania have spoken. Easy mistake.
IntheNet will be pleased to note that my fiancee and I will be married by a lesbian Unitarian minister next April. And yes, I am being absolutely serious. The ceremony will be very secular, I might add.
I'd be worried about your fiancee and minister making you obsolete! secular ceremony? Who does the benediction... squirrels?
Oh come on! I've never been to a "secular cermeony"! Isn't this typically held in the woodland with newts and squirrels, and candle-lit brews and witches promise? Sort of a third-world thing involving unsaid she-devil obscenities?
I saw "les min" in the title and thought "What's ITN doing using French?" Obviously, though, I was wrong - he doesn't speak French, he only speaks imbecile. See you cats at the top of K-12.
Hmm, guess she must have been preaching at a church in Pughtown, as that's not much of a place for the Methodists to hold a special meeting.
I thought he misspelled "Les Miz" and was wondering what the Methodists have against Jean Valjean. ITN, for future reference, the common short form for "lesbian" is "lez" or "lezbo".
I saw "Les Min" and thought "Who the hell is Les Min and why are the Methodists cracking down on him?"
No, it just won't involve any religion. But after hearing you talk about all of these cool lesbian affairs, she-devil obsenities, and brews, I'm starting to think that maybe you'd do a better job planning our ceremony than we're doing.
I knew God. I've worked with God. You, sir, are not God. But seriously: Can it, jackass. There are lots and lots of gay and lesbian clergy in the US. When my dad was in seminary (in the '70s, mind you) the ratios were somewhat akin to what I experienced in music school. My experience is in the Episcopal church, and I can tell you that congregations with gay clergy (by and large) know who their priest's partner is because he or she shows up to mass every Sunday, and is just as much a part of the church as the spouse of any rector ('cept my mom. She's just not into all that ). These are active, vibrant congregations who do great things in their communities. Ubi caritas et amor, Deus ibi est.