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March 2004 |
Trial date set for lesbian clergywoman in Pacific Northwest
SEATTLE (UMNS) -- A March 17 clergy trial date has been set for a United Methodist pastor in the Pacific Northwest who disclosed to her bishop that she is living in a "partnered, covenanted homosexual relationship."
The Rev. Karen Dammann will stand trial at Bothell United Methodist Church, outside Seattle, according to a recent announcement by Bishop Elias Galvan, who leads the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference.
While affirming gays and lesbians as people of sacred worth, The United Methodist Book of Discipline bars "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from being ordained or serving as clergy. The charge against Dammann is for practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings, according to the bishop's office.
"I have asked Bishop William B. Grove to preside over the trial," Galvan said. "He is well respected throughout the church and has experience presiding at church trials."
Grove, of Charleston, W.Va., was elected bishop in 1980 and served the church's West Virginia and Albany, N.Y., episcopal areas before retiring in 1996.
Dammann continues to serve at First United Methodist Church of Ellensburg, Wash., about two hours east of Seattle.
She told Galvan in a letter in 2001 that she was living in a homosexual relationship. That disclosure led to a series of hearings before official church bodies, including the church's highest court, the Judicial Council, which sent the case back to two lower committees last fall. The Pacific Northwest's Committee on Investigation decided Jan. 12 in a 5-2 vote that Dammann would stand trial.
Dammann is represented by the Rev. Robert C. Ward of Tacoma, Wash., and Seattle attorney Lindsay Thompson is assisting as associate counsel, according to Thompson's office.
Last updated on 04/19/2004