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United Methodists approve transgender pastor

June 7, 2007
By CBMW
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Leaders in the United Methodist Church apparently have no problem with a transgender pastor leading one of their congregations, and in fact, they applauded the pastor’s bravery in charting new territory within the denomination.

Leaders in the United Methodist Church apparently have no problem with a transgender pastor leading one of their congregations, and in fact, they applauded the pastor’s bravery in charting new territory within the denomination.


About a year ago, the female pastor of St. John’s United Methodist Church in Baltimore changed her name from Ann Gordon to Drew Phoenix, had a sex change operation and proceeded with hormone treatments. On May 25, Phoenix was reappointed to another term as pastor of the congregation.


“The gender I was assigned at birth has never matched my own true authentic God-given gender identity, how I know myself,” Phoenix, 48, said, according to The Baltimore Sun. “Fortunately today God’s gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body in alignment with my true gender.”


At the annual gathering of the Baltimore-Washington Conference where Phoenix’s reappointment was announced, the pastor reportedly received a standing ovation from fellow Methodists, and he/she said he hoped his situation would spark conversation about sexual identity so that younger clergy who come after him would have an easier time voicing their identity issues.


Phoenix’s congregation is part of the Reconciling Ministries Network, which seeks the inclusion of all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, according to The Sun, and the 50-member church has seen an increase in attendance and financial donations since Phoenix/Gordon became pastor five years ago.


United Methodists as a denomination do not permit non-celibate homosexual clergy, but their Book of Discipline does not mention transgender people. Mark Tooley, director of United Methodist Action, a conservative group affiliated with the Institute on Religion and Democracy, said the decision to approve a transgender pastor “sets a troubling precedent.”


“Once again, liberal church elites, presiding over dwindling churches, are making decisions without regard for historic Christian teaching or a wider consensus among the church’s membership,” Tooley said in a news release May 25. “Rev. Phoenix merits compassion for a lifelong struggle over gender identity issues, as related at the conference. But the church helps no one when it fails to faithfully transmit the Gospel of hope and transformation.”


Tooley also said gender is intrinsically linked to God’s order of creation as described in Genesis.


“The God whom we worship knew us as male or female before He created us. Gender is not a choice but a reality,” he said.


During the annual conference in Washington, some ministers asked for a “ruling of law,” which automatically refers the issue to the Judicial Court, the denomination’s highest legal authority, which meets in October and will decide whether transgender people are eligible for appointment as pastors.


United Methodist Action plans to introduce legislation on the topic at the Methodist General Conference in Texas next year, according to The Washington Times.


“We hope The United Methodist Church will act, where the leadership of the Baltimore-Washington Conference has failed, by establishing clear ethical and theological guidelines about the role of gender in God’s creation,” Tooley said.



 (Erin Roach is a staff writer for Baptist Press, the denominational press agency for the Southern Baptist Convention)

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