Defrocked pastor reinstated after LGBTQ bans lifted

[Lori Dee]

Defrocked pastor reinstated after LGBTQ bans lifted
Full Article
UM News - John W. Coleman
May 21, 2024 | WILDWOOD, N.J. (UM News)

During a closed session of the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference, about 200 ordained clergy voted overwhelmingly to readmit former clergywoman Irene Elizabeth "Beth" Stroud as a full member of its body.

Stroud's ministerial orders as an elder were removed in 2004 after a church trial in which she admitted to being in a committed relationship with another woman.

During the evening worship service, Bishop John Schol drew wide applause when he announced Stroud's reinstatement and presented her to the full assembly.

The inspiration of that moment intensified when worshippers, numbering nearly 500, began to sing "Draw the Circle Wide," which has become an unofficial anthem of the United Methodist movement to extend full ministerial, membership and marital rights to LGBTQ members.

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