I have grown from having Beth as our pastor.
08 Dec 2004
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Reflection from Nancy Tkacs of First United Methodist Church of Germantown |
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Cut your losses?
05 Dec 2004
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A sermon by Rev. Jim McIntire, Bala United Methodist Church
Jim was Beth's predecessor at First United Methodist Church of Germantown. Beth is a pastor to Jim's children. Jim is pastor to Beth's parents. |
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Our job is to try to walk in the footsteps of Christ.
05 Dec 2004
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A reflection by Michael C. Mahan, from First United Methodist Church of Germantown |
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There were no winners today.
04 Dec 2004
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Bishop John Schol writes to the Baltimore-Washington Conference |
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Grace was abundant.
04 Dec 2004
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Pastoral Letter from Bishop Marcus Matthews regarding the Beth Stroud Trial
December 3, 2004 |
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Extraordinary testimony on behalf of Beth's calling
05 Dec 2004
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I have just returned home from the Stroud trial. There were no surprises. The jury voted 12 to 1 to convict. Due to the extraordinary testimony on behalf of Beth's calling, there was some hope that the jury would have compassion in the penalty phase and not remove Beth's credentials. However, the old addage, "Expect the worse and you are never disappointed", proved to be the case. The jury voted 7 to 6 as required to remove Beth's credentials as a Methodist pastor. The one redeeming moment came when one of the jurors joined us after the penalty was read and we surrounded Beth in singing the Holly Near song, "We are gentle, angry people, and we are singing for our lives".
And Jesus wept!
I imagine Beth Stroud and millions of gays and lesbians are feeling betrayed by the Church in much the same way we felt betrayed by family members who voted for Bush only one month ago. This trial is eerily reminiscent of the the trial of a Jewish Carpenter nearly 2000 years ago when Jewish legalists and fundamentalists tried to kill the inclusive love of God. Beth's jurrors ignored John Wesley's Quadrilateral approach to scripture and church law (scripture, tradition, reason, and experience). The violation of the spirit of the law in favor of the letter of the law does enormous spiritual damage. Now gays and lesbians are being rejected by ABC and CBS as too controversial to air ads from the UCC promoting inclusion of gays and lesbians. How much more abuse do we have to take? Fundamentalism will surely kill the spirit of the church if not the institution itself.
Cris Elkins, Fredericksburg, Va. |
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