Bothell, Wash.
A jury of Methodist ministers has found a fellow clergy member not guilty of violating church law by living openly in a lesbian relationship. The Rev. Karen Dammann was acquitted of the charges brought against her after the jury decided last week that the Methodist Book of Discipline, which guides the 8.5 million–member denomination, was vague on whether “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” But church law, the ministers ruled, was clear on one key point—that “basic human rights and civil liberties are due all persons.” The verdict came one month before the church’s quadrennial national conference, setting up what could be the institution’s largest battle since its split over slavery in 1844.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Garsington Opera opens its summer festival with two 'very different productions'The Week Recommends A 'fabulous' new staging of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Donizetti's fake-love-potion comedy L'elisir d'amore
-
The Rehearsal series two: Nathan Fielder's docu-comedy is 'laugh-out-loud funny'The Week Recommends Television's 'great illusionist' has turned his attention to commercial airline safety
-
The Ballad of Wallis Island: bittersweet British comedy is a 'delight'The Week Recommends A reclusive millionaire lures his favourite folk duo to an island for an 'awkward reunion'
