Philadelphia, USA - United Methodist Church Bishop Marcus Matthews has decided to appeal a panel ruling that reinstated a Philadelphia minister who had been defrocked for declaring that she was living in a relationship with another woman.
Irene Elizabeth Stroud, ousted last year by a regional church court, was ordered reinstated by an appeals panel of the Northeastern Jurisdiction, covering a 12-state area. The case now goes to the Judicial Council, the church's supreme court, whose next session is Oct. 26-29 in Houston.
The Rev. Thomas Hall, who acted as prosecutor in the original trial, said, "We felt an egregious error was committed at the appellate level."
Stroud told the denominational news service that Matthews returned her clergy credentials but she declined reappointment until the Judicial Council settles her status. She continues as a lay minister at the First United Methodist Church of Germantown.