| Turnout strong at transgender talks By Melissa Lauber
UMConnection Staff More than 100 people met recently for a conversation on how the church should respond to transgender people who want to serve as pastors. On March 23, at the Baltimore-Washington Conference center in Columbia, clergy and lay members to annual conference were divided into small groups to discuss the issue of transgender clergy. The United Methodist Church does not specifically address transgender clergy in the Book of Discipline, said Washington West District superintendent, the Rev. Marcus Matthews, during a break in one of the conversation sessions in which he was participating. Matthews said he appreciated the opportunity for the church to address what in the past may have been a dont ask, dont tell issue. Were breaking new ground here, he said. During last years annual conference the Board of Ordained Ministry acknowledged it had discussed the question of whether a pastor who had a sex-change operation could return from a voluntary leave of absence to active service as the appointed pastor of a local church. The Order of Elders and the Order of Deacons was t asked with developing a process for annual conference members to explore the churchs response to the issue of transgender people serving as ordained pastors in the annual conference, said the Rev. Roberta Scoville, dean of the Order of Elders. Addressing the participants, Scoville explained that the United Methodist conflict transformation group JUSTPEACE was invited to be a consultant and a conversation was begun among a core group of 10 conference leaders. On March 23, the conversation circle was expanded when preregistered clergy and lay members to annual conference met for worship and two hours of gbwc_superusered conversation. Scoville stressed that the conversations were not about a particular individual, but should focus on the issue of transgender clergy in general, with two goals in mind. We are here to develop a process that promotes and builds trust, she said, and explore the issue of transgender persons in ordained ministry. The participants were divided into 12 small groups, half in the morning session and half in the afternoon. Based on their discussions, each of these groups compiled a list of learnings. These learnings, along with those of the 10-member core group and those of other small groups that will meet on April 27, will be released to the UMConnection, Scoville said. The conversations and the shared learnings are expected to assist clergy in any decisions that they may have to make in the future regarding transgender pastors. While lay members to annual conference are limited in the decisions they can make about policies related to clergypeople, Matthews was pleased at the significant turnout of the laity, who made up almost half of the group. With an informed laity, he anticipated that the conversations might even lead to the Baltimore-Washington Conference being able to produce legislation for the denomination on this issue which could be presented as a resolution to the General Conference in 2004. It could be our gift to the general church, he said. Barbara Thompson, a laywoman from Mt. Zion UMC in Washington, D.C., who formerly led the denominations Commission on Religion and Race, participated in the conversations and was also pleased at the large lay turnout. However, she questioned if two hours was enough time for truly significant and meaningful conversation to unfold. She also expressed reservations about how comfortable the church seems to be with discussing sexual issues. The Rev. Richard Jewell, of New Covenant UMC in Cumberland, said that the value of racial, theological and geographic diversity was reinforced for him and he was impressed by peoples willingness to listen to one another. Its a healthy process, Jewell said. I, and I bet many others here, realized theres a lot to learn before we can make informed decisions. In the small groups, participants followed a process  outlined by JUSTPEACE that was intended to create a sacred space for sharing. Led by a circle steward, they passed around a Bible, which served as a talking piece, and spoke only when they held the Bible. A candle was placed in their midst to remind them to keep God at the center of their conversation. This process allows people to speak and hear the truth in love, said the Rev. Karin Walker, who serves on the national board of JUSTPEACE. It also provides space for the presence of the holy. Few people who attended reported having their minds changed by anything they discussed. However, several said that they began thinking about the issue of human sexuality in new ways. The church advertises its open hearts and open minds, said Daniel Higgins a participant from St. Pauls UMC in Kensington. These conversations are an indicator of that. Two more conversations will be held April 27, beginning at 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Participants are required to register in advance. | 
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