Once the second largest protestant denomination in America, the United Methodist Church lost about a quarter of its members over issues of sexuality. Now, the church is overturning its prohibition on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage.
Once the second largest protestant denomination in America, the United Methodist Church lost about a quarter of its members over issues of sexuality.lecturer in the Princeton writing program and a United Methodist Church pastor. She was defrocked in 2004 after revealing her relationship with another woman, and was reinstated this Tuesday.CHAKRABARTI: Today we're joined by Pastor Beth Stroud. Just two days ago, Pastor Stroud was reinstated into the United Methodist Church as pastor.
STROUD: I decided that I needed to come out, that it was something that I needed to do for my own faith, for my own integrity. Just to be the person that God had created and called me to be. STROUD: I think it was a whole sermon. But I think that the language I was using was, I am a lesbian in a committed relationship with a partner, and I'm called to be a minister.
That that is what led you to actually want to come out to your congregation. It's two different worlds coming together. Or humankind? Or is it an institution of divinity, right? And how do you square the two? We're going to come back to that a little bit later, because we had some callers actually, some Methodist callers share those answers to that exact question, which we'll hear in a little bit.
And a friend who I almost didn't recognize from the back, because 20 years ago, his hair was red and now it's white.It's so interesting that's how you answer the question because I suppose I had presumed that you'd bring a theological answer to it.Part II In 2019, they held onto their ban in a very close vote, but they also passed a disaffiliation plan, which would provide guidelines for congregations who wished to leave the United Methodist Church for, quote,"reasons of conscience regarding issues of sexuality."Over the next four years, more than 7,600 UMC congregations disaffiliated from the denomination. That's about a quarter of the membership, and the largest denominational divide in the United States since the Civil War.
EASTERLING: I think that this debate that has had us in its grips for 52 years, for many, it has kept us from focusing on the main thing, which is making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. The special session that was held in 2019 came because of a plea from delegates at the 2016 general conference, for the bishops of the church to lead us beyond the morass of this debate.
CHAKRABARTI: This is really interesting to me. Because, as I also mentioned, essentially the denominational divide that occurred over this, which was swift, when churches, when congregations were allowed to leave as a matter of conscience, was the largest since the Civil War. CHAKRABARTI: Pastor Stroud, can I turn back to you here? Because again, the echoes between the sort of self-examination that congregations went through in the Civil War.
It was a kind of foreshadowing of what was about to happen, of what was about to happen in the nation, to the rift that was taking place in the nation. And I think what astonished me on Tuesday was this is, when I walked into the room, and I learned that the vote had been overwhelming, overwhelmingly to reinstate me. Like people said it wasn't even close. And I wasn't, I know that room. It's not a room of 200 progressives. It's really not.
And unfortunately, folks who wanted to break up the United Methodist Church put all their effort into scapegoating gay people for why the United Methodist Church can no longer continue as it was known to be.EASTERLING: And I know Reverend Ponder Williams and love him very much and lament that he is no longer with the United Methodist Church.
And so is everyone else. So it is not for me to be God and judge people because they may have a different lifestyle, a different culture or anything else. And one of the ways and spaces that he begins to live into his call is after his days at Oxford University, his younger brother, Charles, was a student at Oxford. And his younger brother, Charles, began this small group pietistic meeting on campus of Oxford University. And John sees it as something that he thinks he might want to do.
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