Methodist Court Rules Pastor Can Bar Members; Pastor Had Denied Gay Man Church Membership

The Christian Post website reports today (November 6, 2010) that the United Methodist Church's highest court has denied requests to reconsider a 2005 decision that granted a pastor the right to bar a gay man from becoming a church member.

The Judicial Council ruled last weekend to leave the decision alone.

"Let the decision rest where it may. There is no need to reconsider, abandon, overturn, or withdraw the decision," wrote Ruben Reyes in a concurring opinion.

In 2005, the Rev. Ed Johnson, senior pastor at South Hill United Methodist Church in Virginia, refused to receive a gay man into membership in the church. Later that year, the Judicial Council ruled that United Methodist ministers have the right to determine "a person's readiness to affirm the vows of membership."