Gay pastor acquitted in church trial

A lesbian Methodist pastor in the US has been acquitted in a church trial over her sexual orientation, and will be allowed to continue her ministry.

A jury of 13 pastors ruled in favour of the Reverend Karen Dammann, 47, who disclosed three years ago that she was in a homosexual relationship.

Church law prohibits the ordination of self-avowed, practising homosexuals and the church’s Book of Discipline declares homosexuality to be “incompatible to Christian teachings”. But the church’s social principles support gay rights and liberties.

Reverend Dammann has been on leave as pastor of First United Methodist Church in Ellensburg, 95 miles east of Seattle, Washington.

This month she married her partner of nine years, Meredith Savage, in Portland, Oregon, where officials have been allowing gay marriages. They have a five-year-old son.

The ruling means Reverend Dammann is in good standing with the church and available for new assignments.

The trial is the first against a homosexual Methodist pastor since 1987, when the credentials of the Reverend Rose Mary Denman of New Hampshire were revoked.