c. 2007 Religion News Service

Methodist Clergy Ask for Ruling on Transgender Pastor

WASHINGTON (RNS) United Methodist clergy in the Baltimore-Washington Conference have asked their bishop and the denomination’s high court to review a recent decision to reappoint a transgender pastor.

Bishop John R. Schol has said he would reappoint the Rev. Drew Phoenix, 48, who has led St. John’s United Methodist Church in Baltimore for the past five years. Phoenix, formerly the Rev. Ann Gordon, changed his sex and name after a medical procedure about a year ago. United Methodist clergy are routinely reappointed at the annual conference.

But the Rev. Kevin M. Baker, of Olney, Md., asked for a “rule of law” from Schol to clarify the decision to reappoint Phoenix. He said the decision was made without adequate discussion of the “theological implications” of having a transgender pastor at the pulpit.

“It’s so complex,” said Baker, senior pastor of Oakdale Emory United Methodist Church. “There’s a lot of questions here that no one is talking about.”

Baker said that clergy gathered at the annual conference May 24-26 were not given advance warning that the issue would arise.

Schol’s written decision will come down within 30 days and, under church rules, will be reviewed by the Judicial Council, the denomination’s top judicial body, in October.

The United Methodist Church bans gay clergy but does not have a policy on transgender pastors.

This is the second time within the past five years that the Baltimore-Washington Conference has dealt with a transgender pastor. A transgender pastor withdrew from the ministry for unrelated reasons in 2002, said Wayne De Hart, the Baltimore-Washington Conference’s director of human resources.

Phoenix said he decided to change his sex “after a lifelong spiritual journey and years of prayer and discernment.”

“Fortunately, today, God’s gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body into alignment with my true gender,” Phoenix said in a statement.

_ Daniel Burke

Religious Groups Welcome President Bush’s AIDS Proposal

WASHINGTON (RNS) Religious groups involved in addressing the AIDS crisis have praised President Bush’s proposal to double U.S. efforts to fight global HIV/AIDS.

Bush said Wednesday (May 30) he will ask Congress to double the spending _ from $15 billion to $30 billion _ on government programs that fight AIDS in some of the world’s poorest countries. The plan would continue efforts that began with the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which is scheduled to expire in 2008.

“I ask Congress to demonstrate America’s continuing commitment to fighting the scourge of HIV/AIDS by reauthorizing this legislation now,” Bush said in a speech in the White House’s Rose Garden. “I ask Congress to double our initial commitment and approve an additional $30 billion for HIV/AIDS prevention, for care, and for treatment over the next five years.”

Under the plan, the U.S. would work with governments and faith- and community-based groups to help prevent new infections, support orphans and treat people with the disease.

Rick and Kay Warren, who lead an HIV/AIDS Initiative from Saddleback Community Church in Lake Forest, Calif., are among those welcoming the plan.

“We’re thrilled that the president’s plan calls for a comprehensive program of prevention, treatment, care and support for those with HIV/AIDS, and a new allocation for the millions of orphans left behind,” the Warrens said in a statement.

“Every American should support this effort to save lives at home and around the world.”

Evangelist Franklin Graham, president of the Samaritan’s Purse relief organization in Boone, N.C., said the additional funds proposed to fight the disease demonstrate how much more work is needed to address it.

“That is why I am encouraged by this new request for $30 billion _ so the increased support can begin as soon as possible and continue well beyond this president’s term,” said Graham, who also is president of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Catholic Relief Services, which received grants from the original plan to work in 12 countries on HIV/AIDS prevention and education, also welcomed the latest proposal and urged Congress to act on it.

“The agency also asks Congress to retain provisions that allow faith-based groups to conduct … activities around abstinence, behavior change and partner reduction,” the Baltimore-based agency said.

_ Adelle M. Banks

Update: Three Churches Receive Cuba Licenses; Two Still Waiting

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (RNS) A Baptist church has applied for a new license to travel to Cuba after its 2005 trip to the island nation drew the threat of a federal fine, which has now been withdrawn.

“We’re still trying to get back to Cuba,” said John Duke, associate pastor of the Baptist Church of the Covenant, who was on the church’s last trip.

Last year, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control accused the Birmingham church and several others of participating in prohibited tourist activities in Cuba. The churches were traveling under a religious travel license granted to the Alliance of Baptists, which was threatened with a $34,000 fine.

In a letter dated May 17, the Office of Foreign Assets Control told the Alliance that the threat of a fine had been withdrawn.

“There’s a sense of relief we were not sanctioned after all,” Alliance Executive Director Stan Hastey said.

The final letter, called a warning letter, still cited unlicensed gifts to and importation from the Communist nation, which remains under a U.S. trade embargo, Hastey said. One Covenant member bought Cuban cigars, which were confiscated by U.S. Customs. That incident and an unauthorized gift of $2,000 taken to Cuba were cited by Treasury officials, Hastey said.

However, after an appeal, the overall trip was not viewed as violating the terms of religious travel and the violations were not considered serious enough for a penalty, he said.

“The Treasury Department in the end did the right thing,” Hastey said. “Although there were actionable incidents, they were still insignificant to trigger a penalty.”

Treasury’s letter notifying Hastey of the possible fine, dated July 5, 2006, mentioned four other Alliance churches accused of violations during trips to Cuba under the license between 2003 and 2005.

Those congregations are the First Baptist churches of Washington, D.C.; Savannah, Ga.; and Greenville, S.C.; and Glendale Baptist Church in Nashville, Tenn. All have applied for licenses to return to Cuba; the churches in Washington, Savannah and Greenville have received their licenses, Hastey said.

_ Greg Garrison

Conservative Rabbis to Continue Debate Over Iraq War in Cyberspace

NEW YORK (RNS) After failing to reach consensus on a resolution calling for a “timely draw down” of U.S. troops from Iraq at their convention last month, Conservative rabbis have decided to try something new: continuing the heated debate online.

“It’s a big experiment,” said Rabbi Joel Meyers, the executive vice president of the Rabbinical Assembly. “Not everybody will participate. Some of the old-timers are not on the computer at this point.”

The Rabbinical Assembly’s proposed resolution stated the military effort has failed to stabilize the country and that the troop surge goes against “the recommendations of responsible military analysts and the desires of the majority of the American people.”

Groups representing the Reform and Reconstructionist Jewish movements have each passed resolutions calling for U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq; the Rabbinical Council of America, which represents the Orthodox Jewish community, did not consider an Iraq-related resolution at its convention last month.

Although polls by the American Jewish Committee and Gallup indicate more than two-thirds of American Jews support withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq, the Rabbinical Assembly’s proposal led to hours of impassioned debate.

The debate hit home particularly for rabbis who are personally connected to soldiers, involved with political movements or concerned with the impact on Israeli security.

A slightly revised resolution will be posted on the group’s internal Web site by mid-June, accepting comments for several weeks from its 1,600 members. Then the group’s leadership must decide how to proceed with amending the resolution and voting on the amendment, Meyers said.

It’s “a rather complicated picture,” Meyers said. The group has discussed issues online before, but voting has always taken place at the annual convention. But the group wants to experiment with new ways of promoting participation on timely resolutions, and there’s nothing in the bylaws against online voting, he added.

Still, if it were up to only him, he said, he would urge the Rabbinical Assembly to table the resolution until next year’s convention.

“I’m not sure, when we have a very divided house, we do ourselves a favor passing anything,” he said. “I would like to see voting face-to-face at next year’s convention.”

_ Nicole Neroulias

Proposed Pakistani Law Would Criminalize Conversion From Islam

NEW DELHI, India (RNS) A draft bill in Pakistan’s National Assembly would impose the death penalty on Muslim men _ and a life sentence on Muslim women _ if they renounce Islam.

The bill has received its first reading and now sits before a standing committee of the National Assembly. It has been tabled by Muttahida Majlis-e-Ammal, an alliance of six fundamentalist Islamic political parties.

The proposed apostasy legislation would also allow the forfeiture of property and a loss of legal custody of children for those who renounce Islam.

A section of the draft bill says the offender’s own confession in court or incriminating testimony by two or more adults would be sufficient grounds for conviction.

During the same Assembly session, lawmakers rejected a proposal to amend existing blasphemy laws that impose life imprisonment for insulting the Quran and death for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.

_ Achal Narayanan

Quote of the Day: An editorial in the Rhode Island Catholic

(RNS) “We will not print opinions that are in contradiction of church teaching _ any more than a newspaper for, say, Greenpeace would print a letter in support of the slaughter of whales.”

_ An editorial from the Rhode Island Catholic, a diocesan newspaper formerly known as The Providence Visitor, in announcing its revamped format.

KRE/PH END RNS