If I were a Bishop at an ANnual Conference the it would not be difficult to merely remind the delegates that the ordiantion was given to a particualr individual named _____________________. Name changes occur with marriage, adoption, and with divorce but it would be clear cut to me that the ordination would not be transferrable because of a sex cahnge operation.

It's never a dull moment in Methodism!

** Methodist Church Officials to Rule on Cleric Who Had Sex Change ** According to The Baltimore Sun, Methodist Church officials will soon decide what to do about a minister who took a leave of absence to have a sex-change operation.

"The question of whether to allow the minister -formerly Richard A. Zamostny and now named Rebecca Steen - to end a voluntary leave of absence and lead a congregation has touched off a quiet discussion within the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church, which was scheduled to debate the issue in a session today at the start of its annual meeting," The Sun reported. Insiders indicate it is unlikely the conference could take action this week to stop Steen from being reappointed to a new church.

The case has ignited a larger debate in the church about how to deal with pastors who have changed gender, according to The Sun. In a report issued after last year's Baltimore-Washington conference, leaders acknowledged the issue of transgendered pastors and called for more discussions during the year.

Some conservative ministers and groups say the Methodist conference should find a way to keep Steen from leading a congregation, although current rules don't prevent it. "There's a general understanding that this is sin, and we don't accept sin," said the Rev. A. Frederick Walz, pastor of the Smithville United Methodist Church in Dunkirk, Md.

-- Anonymous, June 06, 2002