Beth Stroud sheds a tear pondering what reinstatement would mean 20 years after she was defrocked from her job as a United Methodist pastor in Philadelphia, Sunday, May 12, 2024, at Turning Point United Methodist Church in Trenton, N.J. Delegates at a United Methodist conference recently struck down longstanding anti-LGBTQ bans and created a path for clergy ousted because of them to seek reinstatement. Beth Stroud, center, attends a service at Turning Point United Methodist Church in Trenton, N.
“I think a church will be able to use me in some way where my credentials are important — like being asked to celebrate Communion on a day when the regular pastor is out of town,” she said. “Those would be really meaningful opportunities.”“It felt really good to write that email, to request reinstatement,” she said. “I want to continue to be a part of the church and its work in the world.”
When she later moved to New Jersey, she sought a new church to join, and settled on Turning Point United Methodist Church, a predominantly Black congregation in Trenton.“You guys may not realize this, but for the last 15 or so years, we have been blessed to have — as a loving, supportive, active member of Turning Point — a rock star,” Hall said.
“This is an act of reconciliation and restorative justice, a move to heal the broken community of the Church,” said Creech, who earlier doubted such a move would ever happen.“Simply knowing the Church now provides for it is satisfaction enough for me,” he said via email. “Because I am not nor cannot be in pastoral ministry at this time in my life, I do not think reinstating my ordination is appropriate.
Amy DeLong, a lesbian pastor from Wisconsin, fought for LGBTQ inclusion in the UMC for years. She formed an advocacy organization, protested the bans at General Conferences, conducted a same-sex union — and in 2011 underwent a church trial for it. She was suspended from ministry for 20 days and still kept fighting.