Methodists vote against homosexuality

PITTSBURGH -- United Methodist law clearly teaches that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, the highest court in the denomination ruled Saturday.

The Judicial Council, in a 6-3 vote Saturday, said violating Methodist law on homosexuality could be cause for removal from church office.

A delegate from Arkansas had asked the council to rule on the matter following a case in Washington in which a lesbian minister told her bishop she was in a committed relationship with a woman.

Following the Judicial Council decision, the denomination's General Conference voted 551-345 Saturday to direct the council to review the case of the Rev. Karen Dammann.

In March, a jury of 13 pastors in Bothell, Wash., acquitted Dammann of church charges that she had committed practices "incompatible with Christian teaching."

The Rev. Maxie Dunnam, president of Asbury Theological Seminary in Kentucky, asked for the General Conference vote in light of the judicial panel's ruling.

It was unclear what action the high court could take in Dammann's case. Methodist law does not allow for an appeal in church trials. However, the council had retained jurisdiction over Dammann's case when it ordered Dammann to be tried, and traditionalists hope that will allow the council to revisit the case.

Dammann, reached by phone in Washington, said she would consult with her attorney to learn what actions the Judicial Council could take.

"This thing just never ends," she said. "I'm disappointed. I can't believe it."

The Judicial Council is expected to rule sometime during the conference, which next convenes on Monday.

Conservatives praised the decision by the nine-member court.

"Church law has been unchanging for three decades, but increasingly certain local or regional jurisdictions have been unwilling to enforce church law," said Mark Tooley, a spokesman for the United Methodist Action Program of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a conservative advocacy group.

Still, Tooley said the question of homosexual clergy will remain unresolved until the General Conference or Judicial Council passes legislation to enforce church law.

Dammann was put on trial after she told her bishop she was in a committed relationship with a woman. She married her partner in Portland, Ore., in March, after county officials there began allowing same-sex marriages.

Dammann is now on family leave.

The debate over homosexuality is expected to dominate the agenda of the conference, which is held every four years and runs through May 7.

No one believes that the 8.3 million-member denomination is about to break apart. Delegates have rejected proposals more accepting of sexually active gays by about 60 percent to 40 percent over the years. That voting trend is expected to continue among this year's 1,000 delegates.