Transgender United Methodist Minister Reappointed in Md.
Pastor Dale Morgan
Transgender United Methodist Minister Reappointed in Md.*
Friday May 25, 2007 5:46 AM
By BRETT ZONGKER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - A United Methodist minister who has changed gender
since being chosen to lead a congregation in Baltimore will be
reappointed there, church officials announced Thursday at a regional
convocation.
The Rev. Drew Phoenix told the church's Baltimore-Washington conference
that he had gone through ``spiritual transformation'' in the past year,
since changing his name from Ann Gordon and receiving medical treatment
to become a man.
The denomination bans sexually active gay clergy but does not have any
rules about transgender pastors.
``It is my intention and hope that by sharing my story that we commit
ourselves as Christians and as United Methodists to become educated
about the complexity of gender,'' said Phoenix, the only known
transgender minister in the conference. ``Each of us is a beloved child
of God - no exceptions.''
Phoenix, 48, has led St. John's United Methodist Church for nearly five
years. His term expires in July, and one of the purposes of the regional
meeting is to reassign ministers for periodic terms with churches.
Bishop John Schol said that the church's 50-member congregation was
fully supportive, and that no objections were raised during a
closed-door meeting of the clergy. St. John's, a church that describes
itself as diverse and inclusive, has more than tripled its membership
since Phoenix arrived.
The meeting was already scheduled when the Institute on Religion and
Democracy, a conservative think tank, issued a statement saying it
objects to any acceptance of sexual identity changes.
The group, which has no authority over the church, did not specifically
call for Phoenix to be removed. But Mark Tooley, director of the group's
United Methodist project, said a change in gender identity conflicts
with ``God's order of creation.''
Schol, who periodically renews ministers' appointments or reassigns
them, encouraged ministers and church members attending the annual
conference through Saturday to discuss the decisions of church leaders
with their congregations, and urged church members to pray for Phoenix.
``This isn't an issue. This is a human being,'' Schol said.
Although the denomination has no transgender policy, a minister from
Baltimore quit the church after a sex change in 2002. Rebecca Ann Steen
said at the time she would rather withdraw than ``submit the church my
family or myself to any more struggle.''