The following month, at the New England 2000 Annual Conference meeting, a group of over 300 clergy and laity signed a "Declaration in Support of Full Inclusion of Gay and Lesbian Persons in the Church", now referred to as the New England Declaration (Barillas, 2000). While not an official action of the New England Annual Conference, over 100 of the signers stood in front of the annual conference session as the Declaration was read (UMNS, 2000b; "UM Policy", 2000). The Declaration states in part:

We commit to proclaim that homosexuality (no less or more than heterosexuality) is compatible with Christian teaching. . . .

WE AFFIRM [sic] that loving, monogamous, intimate relationships between person of the same or opposite gender, are an expression of God's love.

As pastors we will . . . also enable all couples to celebrate rites of union, regardless of gender. . . .

WE AFFIRM [sic] that persons of all sexual orientations are equally called to ordained ministry. As clergy we will affirm God's call to ordained ministry as experienced by candidates for ministry regardless of a person's sexual orientation and welcome them into the clergy covenant. (New England Declaration)

The New England Chapter of the Methodist Federation for Social Action said they were responsible for this document (MFSA, 2000). The complete text of the document can be found in Appendix T.

At the California-Pacific Conference sessions, nearly 400 persons stood in support of the New England Declaration (UMNS, 2000b). In the Desert Southwest Conference, a declaration taking issue with the "increasingly condemnatory and exclusionary language concerning the full participation of gay and lesbian persons in our denomination" was created and signed by thirty pastors and over one hundred lay members (UMNS, 2000b). And the Alabama-West Florida Conference adopted a petition calling for Emory University to comply with the denominational stance regarding homosexuality (UMNS, 2000b). (Emory provided health benefits to domestic partners and allowed same-sex union ceremonies on campus to those religious groups formally represented there and if their denominations allowed the ceremonies) (UMNS, 2000b).

In July of 2000, the Western Jurisdiction almost unanimously approved and issued its own declaration, "We Will Not Be Silent":

We of the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church have heard the call of the prophet Micah "to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God." . . .

The votes may have been cast but our voices will not be silent. Our jurisdictional vision calls us to be "a home for all God's people, gathered around a table of reconciliation and transformation." . . . "We acknowledge that there may be differences of opinion among us, but this does not require that we wait on justice." We cannot accept discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender persons and, therefore, we will work toward their full participation at all levels in the life of the church and society. Valuing the voices of those who disagree, we will continue to be in dialogue as we journey together in creative tension. We will continue to be in ministry with all God's children and celebrate the gifts diversity brings. We will continue to feast at table with all God's children. (Western, 2000; UMNS, 2000d)

The complete text of "We Will Not be Silent" can be found in Appendix U.

Fallout from the 1996 rulings continued. In an executive session in May following General Conference, the West Ohio Annual Conference voted to discontinue Phil Hart from probationary membership in the annual conference because of his sexual orientation. Hart, who was ordained a deacon in 1996 and had not yet been ordained an elder, had told church officials in 1998 that he was homosexual and could not promise to remain celibate (UMNS, 2000a).

In July, 2000, Greg Dell was allowed to return to his appointment at Broadway UMC after a year of suspension for conducting a same-sex union ceremony. Upon his return, he stated that he

intends to be a full pastor to all the people. . . . My plan is that I will not restrict ministry to any one in the congregation because of their identity. . . As long as I’m doing weddings for heterosexual couples . . . I intend to do those for gay and lesbian couples. My intention is not to engage in a kind of in-your-face challenge. . . . My intent is to be a pastor. . . . the real place for changing the policy of the church is on the floor of the General Conference. (UMNS, 2000c)

In fall of 2000, another grass-roots organization re-emerged and reorganized: a new Parents Reconciling Network for United Methodists. This group grew from the original parent group formed solely for the 2000 General Conference (RMN, 2000a; PRN, 2000a; Hilton, personal correspondence, September 29, 2000). At its October, 2000 meeting, the Board of Directors of the Reconciling Congregations Program voted to change its name to Reconciling Ministries Network, acknowledging the fact that in addition to congregations, there were individuals, groups, annual conferences, student groups and others who were affiliating with the reconciling movement (RMN, 2000a, 2000b).

At the UM Youth Leadership Conference in Estes Park, Colorado, in November 2000, the youth of the Rocky Mountain Conference (grades six to twelve) adopted a petition in support of lesbians and gays (Gorman, 2000). Their action was precipitated in part by the anti-gay actions of the UMC’s 2000 General Conference and in part by the lay and clergy statement, "We Will Not Be Silent" (Appendix U) adopted by the laity and clergy at the Western Jurisdictional meeting in July 2000. The youth statement, which was entered into the conference Council on Youth Ministries Bylaws, said in part, "We will not accept discrimination against gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender persons and therefore we will work toward their full participation at all levels of life in the church and society" (Gorman, 2000). The youth also pledged to honor the voices of those in disagreement with their petition and promised "to continue to be in dialogue, recognizing this creative tension is part of our walk together" (Gorman, 2000). See Appendix V for complete text.

At the end of 2000, another UM controversy occurred following the publication of the November/December special issue of Christian Social Action (CSA), a magazine published by the Board of Church and Society. The November/December cover featured justice scales on the cover weighing a church with a sign "Some are Welcome" and a communion table surrounded by people backed by a sign saying "All Welcome" and a question, "Which Church Honors Jesus?" (CSA, 2000). The guest editor, Harry C. Kiely, described the focus of the special issue this way:

[It] is dedicated to hearing those voices the church has not been able to silence. LGBTs, their families and allies have herein told their stories and made their witness that Christ’s table is open to all. While there is understandably much anger expressed here, and rightly so, the overwhelming message is one of compassion and deep caring. (Kiely, 2000)

The stories in the issue were written by UM sexual minorities who told of their experiences following and related to the actions of the General Conference. In an insert on the back of the front cover, the editor of the magazine, Erik J. Alsgaard, said, "No attempt has been made . . . to offer theological weight or a balance of opinions" (CSA, 2000).

Following the publication of the special issue, leaders of Good News, the Confessing Movement, and UMAction, all unofficial UM groups, sent a letter of complaint to the General Council on Finance and Administration (GCFA), claiming that the November/December issue of the magazine had violated church policy by using church funds to "promote the acceptance of homosexuality." The persons signing the letter were the Rev. James Heidinger of Good News; Patricia Miller of the Confessing Movement; and Mark Tooley of UMAction (UMNS, 2000e).

Subsequently, that particular issue of the magazine was removed from circulation until an investigating committee could review the complaint. Regular subscribers had already received a copies (RK, 2002).

In early 2001, the investigative committee of the General Council on Finance and Administration reported that they had determined that the November/December 2000 special issue of Christian Social Action did not violate the denomination's prohibition of use of denominational funds to "promote the acceptance homosexuality" (UMNS, 2001b). They did, however, report that they found the cover of the magazine to "unnecessarily inflammatory" (UMNS, 2001b).

After the finding, the magazine was made available for general circulation and copies of the special issue were mailed to every General Conference delegate and every bishop (RK, 2002). In 2002, this particular issue of Christian Social Action received three awards from the Associated Church Press (Astle, 2002; RK, 2002; ACP, 2002; Nissen, 2002). (NOTE: the Nissen source, a UMNS article, did not specify that the award winning issue was the controversial issue; the other sources made that distinction.) The remarks from the ACP, when announcing the second place award in the magazine Theme Issue category, stated,

Amazingly empowering approach to subject matter; in much the same way that Christian teaching involves response to the need of the least, journalism is to give voice to the voiceless (and hold the powerful accountable); with the issue you’ve done this as well as can be done. (ACP, 2002)

In 2001, Marilyn Alexander was hired as Executive Director of RMN after serving two years as Interim Executive Director (RMN, 2001b).

In the summer, Mark Edward Williams came out as a practicing gay pastor during a session of the 2001 Pacific Northwest Annual Conference (King, 2001), setting the stage for a year-long debate, Judicial Council hearings, and subsequent charges. Two lesbian clergy members of the conference, Karen Dammann, who had been a prior pastor of the church Williams was serving in 2000 and was on family leave in 2001, and Katie Ladd, who was on paid medical disability, were also open about their orientation during the annual conference session. Damman had disclosed her covenanted relationship with another woman in a February letter to Bishop Elias Galvan, and Ladd came out at the annual conference session (Tanton, 2001a).

Williams was not "appointed" to a church during the Annual Conference session but was later "assigned" by Bishop Galvan to be minister of congregational life, a fully salaried position created specifically for him at the church he had served since 1999. Damman was not appointed to a church. Ladd continued on medical disability and was not ready to be considered for appointment to a church. However, because the Discipline stated that elders in good standing must be appointed and because Williams, Damman, and Ladd were clergy members in good standing, the Pacific Northwest Conference asked the UM Judicial Council for a decision on the conflicting passages in the Discipline (Tanton, 2001a; UMNS, 2001c).

The UM Judicial Council, meeting in October 2001, ruled that the UM Discipline did not contradict itself in the seemingly conflicting statements that said that clergy in good standing were entitled to an appointment and that gay pastors could not be appointed to serve churches (Purdue, 2001; JC Decision 920). The Council also pointed out that the appointment of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" to local churches was expressly forbidden by the Discipline. The Council stated that "declaring involvement in a same-gender relationship would be enough to subject a pastor to a review of his or her standing as a minister" (Purdue, 2001; Tanton, 2001c). The decision also stipulated, "If, in the course of such review, such person affirms that she is engaged in genital sexual activity with a person of the same gender, she would have openly acknowledged … that she is a self-avowed practicing homosexual" (Purdue, 2001; JC Decision 920).

The Council went on to say, however, that due process needed to be followed, that bishops could not take unilateral action to deny a church appointment to members in full standing, that charges must be brought against the persons, that the bishop must initiate proceedings, that hearing and/or trials and/or appeals must be held, and that the annual conference was the only body that could call for a change in status of the clergyperson. In addition, the person in question must be put on suspension during the process; however, the Council also indicated that suspension did not remove the person from an appointment if he or she was already serving a church. If, in the end, the conference relation of the pastor were not changed, the person would remain in full connection and should be continued under appointment (Purdue, 2001; JC Decision 920).

A new RMN affiliate, the Clergy Alliance, was formed at the RMN Convocation in Tacoma, Washington, in July, 2001 (UMNS, 2001e). The Clergy Alliance is made up of UM clergy who "summon the church to a deeper level of spiritual and theological integrity in relationship to persons of all sexual orientations and gender identities and their full inclusion in all aspects of the church's life" (RMN, 2002). Membership includes seminarians and those called to ordained ministry but unable to serve because of sexual orientation restrictions. The network plans to focus on "active forms of teaching, organizing, strategizing, resistance, and support for one another to help the church become more faithful to the radical love of Christ" (RMN, 2002).

Also in July, the RMN called the denomination to accountability for the upcoming TV ad campaign, "Open hearts, open minds, open doors." RMN Executive Director Marilyn Alexander said that the ad campaign "is contradictory to what gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people have experienced in the church." She did add, however, that the theme was on the "right track" (UMNS, 2001e)

And by fall 2001, another new organization was being formed under the auspices of the Reconciling Ministries Network and the Clergy Alliance. That group, or movement, is/will be made up of congregations and individuals, both laity and clergy, and is called "A Church Within A Church." This group plans to focus on

. . . developing the parallel infrastructure and resources needed for full inclusive ministry. It will function as both an incubator and model for an emerging church celebrating the fullness of the diversity created by God. It will be less focused on attempting to directly interact with the denomination than it will be committed to enabling faithful ministry by participating clergy and congregations. (RMN, 2001a)

In August, the Good News Board expressed concern about the formation of RMN’s Clergy Alliance, a group that plans to fight discrimination against homosexuals in the church, and the group’s unwillingness "to abide by the "carefully established lguidelines for human sexuality which have guided the church faithfully for the past 24 years" (UMNS, 2001f).

In recognition that there is a large minority of UMs in disagreement with the denomination’s official stand on homosexuality, the UM bishops held the first of four denominational dialogues on the subject in May, 2002 (Burton, 2002). These dialogues are planned to

‘create open, grace-filled space’ for people to discuss, disagree about and acknowledge the ‘deep wounds’ experienced by the church around this issue" and to "model for local congregations honest, thoughtful dialogue to replace win-or-lose wrangling on what is viewed by many as the denomination’s most controversial issue. (Burton, 2002)

At the most recent General Conference, the Council of Bishops and the Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns were asked to sponsor such conversations. The three remaining dialogues will involve members of the following groups: General council on Ministries, youth and young adults, and people of color in leadership within the denomination. The planners may encourage similar dialogues at the regional and local church levels (UMNS, 2001d; Burton, 2002).

After a May 30 hearing, the charges/complaint against Mark Williams, an openly gay UM pastor in the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, were dismissed by the conference committee on investigation. As a result, Williams did not face a

church trial and was allowed to continue as pastor of Woodland Park United

Methodist Church in Seattle (UMNS, 2002a). And in July, the investigative committee dismissed a complaint against the Rev. Karen Damman, the lesbian minister accused of violating church law prohibiting the appointment of gay clergy to a local church. Consequently, Dammann remained a minister in good standing and did not have to undergo a church trial (Lalwani, 2002; UMNS, 2002d).

In June, the Task Force on Homosexuality and the Unity of the United Methodist Church (a task force of the General Commission on Church Unity and Interreligious Concerns) held a forum of unofficial UMC caucuses in Cincinnati in (UMNS, 2002b; Ryan, personal correspondence, July 10, 2002; MFSA, 2002). Caucuses represented at the forum included the Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN), Affirmation, United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church (UMOC), Good News, the Confessing Movement, and Methodist Federation for Social Action (MFSA) (UMNS, 2002b; Ryan, personal correspondence, July 10, 2002; MFSA, 2002). Jan Love, commission member in attendance, says, "It was clear that they were listening to each other in a way that is not very common." (UMNS, 2002b).

Through numerous press releases, news stories, reports, and speeches, many writers and UM officials have stressed as noteworthy the fact that "no General Conference has ever acted to withhold church membership from homosexual persons (Williams, 1994a, p. 12; Wood, 2000, p. 17; et al).

During the June session of her annual conference, the Reverend Rebecca Steen, a life-long United Methodist and a member of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference who had been on voluntary medical leave to pursue and recuperate from corrective surgery (transgender surgery or sex change surgery; see Glossary), asked to be appointed to a local church. Following her request, a complaint was filed (Broadway, 2002b), and a hearing scheduled. Steen voluntarily turned in her ministerial credentials and withdrew her United Methodist membership at the opening of the hearing. Steen had been a UM clergy member for seventeen years and had served three churches (Purdue, 2002b, 2002c).

In response to the issues raised in the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference, Mark Tooley (2002), director of the United Methodist Committee of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, pointed out that the UMC does not have a specific prohibition against transsexual clergy and outlined five reasons the UMC should not appoint transsexual pastors.

And the debates and disagreements about the status of gay ordination and clergy, same-gender union ceremonies, and the ‘incompatibility’ language, continue, with arguments now added in opposition to transgender clergy as well..

Note: Dr. Stroud's dissertation was completed during 2003.  She is currently working on bringing this history up to date.  Please check back.

Next: GC 2004 (Pittsburgh)