Out In The Mountains : News - Stroud Wins Step 1 Appeal

      Germantown, PA – According to an update issued by the former Reverend Beth Stroud's partner Chris Paige, Stroud has won her appeal of a church court's decision to "defrock" her for being an avowed lesbian.
       At 10:30 am on Friday, April 29, the Northeast Jurisdic-tional Committee on Appeals announced that it had set aside the decision and penalty from Stroud's December 2, 2004 trial due to concerns about due process. The vote of the Committee on Appeals was 8-1 for the reversal.
      The content of the decision focuses on procedural questions relating to the specific charge leveled against Stroud. The decision is a lengthy document containing a detailed analysis of specific points of church law raised in the appeal.
      "The evidence in support of the charge was overwhelming and would be sustained in the absence of legal error," the Appeals Committee decision reads. The decision hinged on the lack of definition in church documents for the words "status" and "practicing homosexual."
      Stroud's bishop, Marcus Matthews, announced a few days later that he would appeal the decision reinstating Stroud as a minister, even though he offered to reappoint her to her former position as associate pastor of the First United Methodist Church of Germantown.
      Stroud declined and announced that she would not resume wearing her ministerial regalia or performing sacramental tasks until all appeals are exhausted. Her church, known as a liberal congregation, has kept Stroud on as a lay minister.
       The Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church is expected to consider the Bishop's appeal at its October meeting, according to a report in the Washington Blade.