Lesbian UM pastor loses bid; the burden of student loan debt for new pastors

RNS starts off Monday with an update on the trial of lesbian United Methodist minister, Rev. Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud. Kevin Eckstrom reports that today she lost her bid to return to the pulpit Monday (Oct. 31) when the church’s highest court upheld her conviction on charges of being a “self-avowed practicing” homosexual. And, in […]

RNS starts off Monday with an update on the trial of lesbian United Methodist minister, Rev. Irene Elizabeth “Beth” Stroud. Kevin Eckstrom reports that today she lost her bid to return to the pulpit Monday (Oct. 31) when the church’s highest court upheld her conviction on charges of being a “self-avowed practicing” homosexual. And, in a separate decision that could have even wider implications, the church’s Judicial Council said gays and lesbians have no automatic right to church membership and may be turned away by local pastors. The twin rulings represent a major setback for liberals who advocated greater inclusion of homosexuals in the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination, and served to reinforce church policy on homosexuality as ironclad.

Eckstrom also reports on the burden of student loan debt for new pastors: A new study by Auburn Theological Seminary in New York shows that the average student loan debt for new pastors more than doubled in a decade, from $11,043 in 1991 to $25,018 in 2001. Perhaps more troubling, the report said nearly a quarter of borrowers had postponed health care in order to pay bills, or didn’t have enough money to make their payments on time.

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