Nashville, USA - The highest court for the United Methodist Church is taking up the case of a minister who changed gender from female to male.
The Rev. Ann Gordon had spent five years as minister at St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore before undergoing surgery and hormone therapy to become the Rev. Drew Phoenix.
Bishop John Schol of the Methodists' Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference reappointed Phoenix this spring as pastor of the church, noting that the denomination's Book of Discipline said nothing about transgender clergy.
The Judicial Council, scheduled to meet Oct. 24-27 in San Francisco, will look at whether the Board of Ordain Ministry should conduct a review if a pastor changes gender, and whether the denomination allows transgender people to be appointed as Methodist ministers at all.