Imitation of Christ

Lesbian Minister Defrocked By United Methodist Church

Mark Tooley, a conservative Methodist at the Institute on Religion and Democracy in Washington, said the rulings show that Methodism "is not moving in the direction of the Episcopal Church and declining liberal Protestantism in the West." Rather, he said, it "is moving in the direction of global Christianity, which is robustly orthodox."

The Methodist Church has apparently chosen to embrace bigotry by defrocking a lesbian minister and reinstating a minister who denied membership in his congregation to a gay man. Amidst much discussion of church law, there is little mention of the example of Christ. Once again, I am proud to be an Episcopalian.