Vindicated Virginia Methodist Minister Awaits New Assignment

Compiled by Jody Brown – November 3, 2005

[Agape Press] – The Virginia minister who was placed on unpaid leave for denying a homosexual man membership in his church is awaiting a new assignment now that he’s been vindicated. The United Methodist Church’s highest court ruled 6-3 Monday that Rev. Edward Johnson had a pastoral right to determine “a person’s readiness to affirm the vows of membership.” (See related story)

The council’s three dissenters objected that the ruling could hurt the church’s image, contradicting the denomination’s motto: “Open hearts, open minds, open doors.” But Mark Tooley, who heads the United Methodist Committee of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, says church doctrine is more important than the denomination’s advertising slogan.