The new pastor at
a South Hill, Va., Methodist church that had barred a
gay man from membership two years ago has reversed that
decision and allowed the man to join.
The Reverend
Barry Burkholder, the new leader of South Hill United
Methodist Church, told the congregation to accept the man's
transfer from a Baptist church. The denomination has
not released the name of the gay congregant.
The former
pastor, the Reverend Edward H. Johnson, said in 2005 that he
could not accept the man as a member because he would
neither repent nor seek to change. Johnson has since
been appointed pastor at another Virginia church,
Dahlgren United Methodist Church.
The case led to a
showdown in church courts between Johnson and the
denomination's Virginia Conference, which oversees
congregations and pastors in the region.
The conference
tried to bar Johnson from ministry for a year for his
decision.
The Methodist
Book of Discipline declares gay relationships
''incompatible with Christian teaching'' and bars sexually
active gays from ordination. However, the denomination
has no rules on church membership for openly gay
congregants. The mainline Protestant denomination
advertises itself as an open and welcoming church.
Johnson appealed
his punishment to the highest church court--the
Judicial Council--and won. The high court
concluded that pastors have the authority to decide
who becomes a member of a local church and ordered Johnson
reinstated to ministry.
Burkholder told
United Methodist News Service last week that the gay man
professed that Christ was his savior and that Jesus died for
his sins, so, the pastor said, he was ready to become
a member of the church. (AP)