Attempt to oust pastor for not accepting gay member

Reuters has a pretty interesting story. The US United Methodist Church's tribunal has cleared a pastor whose bishop removed him when he refused membership to a gay man. The bishop and his conference (Virginia) had earlier been ordered to reinstate him and give him back pay but had requested that the tribunal reconsider.

The UMC has the same policy that Australia's Uniting Church voted in a couple of years ago. It says the question of homosexuality in the church must be decided at a congregational level. It seems the bishop and his conference in this case wanted to go further and establish a pro-gay-only policy within their conference.

It's interesting. The church in Australia is still largely of the opinion (at least in its official rules) that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian practice. So there is often an argument made that the church ought to be willing to let individual congregations decide and follow their own conscience. An argument something along the lines of, "Why poke your nose into the business of this congregation or that congregation, you just do what you do over here and let them do what they do over there." But it remains to be seen whether this isn't just an argument of convenience - whether it isn't both sides who will ultimately insist that everyone agree with them or leave the denomination.

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