Rev. Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud, a United Methodist Church pastor, has been reinstated 20 years after being defrocked for being in a same-sex relationship. Stroud was initially expelled from the ministry in 2004 after telling her Philadelphia congregation about her relationship, in line with the denomination's then-policy barring active homosexuals from the clergy. Her reinstatement follows a closed meeting of clergy from the UMC’s Eastern Pennsylvania region, where she exceeded the two-thirds vote requirement to be readmitted as a full member and pastor. This decision comes less than three weeks after the UMC repealed its anti-LGBTQ bans. Stroud had briefly been the First United Methodist Church pastor in Germantown, Pennsylvania, before her defrocking.
According to the official UM News agency, Ms. Stroud had briefly been the First United Methodist Church pastor in Germantown, Pennsylvania, before her defrocking. https://t.co/HF81YLq8JL
The Rev. Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud was expelled from the ministry in 2004 in a move consistent with the denomination’s then-policy barring active homosexuals from the clergy. https://t.co/HF81YLpAUd
Lesbian United Methodist pastor Rev. Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud, defrocked in 2004, readmitted to clergy ranks in Pennsylvania https://t.co/b6wcYFbq01 https://t.co/GGihXn4GQn
A lesbian United Methodist minister defrocked 20 years ago after saying she was in a "committed relationship with another woman" is again an ordained minister in the denomination. https://t.co/l2ietstaow
Lesbian United Methodist pastor, defrocked in 2004, readmitted to clergy ranks in Pennsylvania https://t.co/PaF61R4y02
Twenty years after being defrocked for telling her congregation that she was in a same-sex relationship, Beth Stroud has been reinstated as a full member and pastor in the United Methodist Church. https://t.co/7EVsMS2kdo
Beth Stroud was defrocked as a United Methodist Church pastor in 2004 after telling her Philadelphia congregation that she was in a same-sex relationship. On Tuesday, less than three weeks after the UMC repealed its anti-LGBTQ bans, she was reinstated. https://t.co/OClpklQQE4
A United Methodist Church pastor was reinstated 20 years after being defrocked when she told her Philadelphia congregation she was in a same-sex relationship. https://t.co/tRdvK45U2p
Methodist pastor from Philadelphia reinstated 20 years after being ousted for same-sex relationship https://t.co/6P9MyG0CUr
In a closed meeting of clergy from the UMC’s Eastern Pennsylvania region, Beth Stroud exceeded the 2/3 vote requirement to be readmitted as a full member and pastor in the UMC. https://t.co/gcGDmKEwCV
Defrocked in 2004 for same-sex relationship, a faithful Methodist is reinstated as pastor https://t.co/KY7rYSNDnp