Gay minister's trial bares painful rift in church

Acknowledging that the United Methodist Church is "painfully divided" over issues of homosexuality, Bishop William Boyd Grove has convened a rare public church trial in the case of the Rev. Karen Dammann, who could be stripped of her ministry for being in an openly gay relationship.

The trial — which began yesterday and resumed this morning — is drawing hundreds to Bothell United Methodist Church, where several dozen Dammann supporters were arrested by Bothell police yesterday for trying to block the entrance to the church. The arrests were peaceful, as were the demonstrations.

Grove, a retired West Virginia bishop who is serving as trial judge, lit a candle to start the proceedings, saying it symbolized that "we are together as the gathered church ... the same church that worships ... the same church that is so bitterly and painfully divided."

The third-largest faith group in the United States — after Roman Catholics and Southern Baptists — the United Methodist Church has an estimated membership of between eight and 10 million.

Dammann, who has served as pastor in Seattle and Ellensburg, is charged with "practices declared by the United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teaching." She has pleaded not guilty of the charge.

"I feel hopeful," Dammann said before this morning's proceedings began. "It's possible that this will be a prophetic moment for the church. I don't take it personally — it's the process, wending its way to a conclusion."

She arrived with her partner, Meredith Savage, who said of Dammann: "She never intended to be a poster child. This is highly personal."

Bishop Elias Galvan, head of the church's Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, was first on the witness list this morning.

Church trial is a rare proceeding — in the Pacific Northwest, there has been only one in the past 20 years. And while a few Methodist clergy have been tried for holding ceremonies blessing same-gender unions, the last church trial of an openly gay clergy member was most likely in 1987, when Rose Mary Denman of New Hampshire was stripped of her ministry.

Dammann's trial has become symbolic — both for those who believe current church laws and teachings on homosexuality are unjust, and for those who worry that church law is being disregarded at the expense of personal beliefs.

That division was also reflected in opening statements yesterday, which began after a closed jury selection that took most of the day. The 13 jurors are Methodist clergy members from the Pacific Northwest.

The Rev. James Finkbeiner, arguing on behalf of the church, framed his argument narrowly, saying the case is simply to determine whether Dammann violated church law. Church law says "since the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be accepted as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in the United Methodist Church."

Finkbeiner argued that Dammann has already provided "self-avowed" evidence that she is a "practicing" homosexual — first in a 2001 letter to her bishop saying she was in a "partnered, covenanted, homosexual relationship," and then in a 2002 statement that her relationship with her partner of about nine years did indeed involve sexual contact.

"It is not the law of the church on trial today," Finkbeiner said. "Your job is to find her guilty or innocent (under present law). It is as simple as that."

Dammann's defense team framed its argument broadly, asking jurors to consider the Methodist church's history of fighting for social justice and civil rights, whether its current law banning "practicing" gay clergy is in line with that history, and saying it was important to take church law, and the biblical passages on which it is based, into context.

The defense argued against focusing only on a small piece of church law in determining Dammann's fate.

"Let the book guide you," said the Rev. Robert Ward, referring to the Book of Discipline, which includes the United Methodist Church's laws and teachings. "But let it be the whole book."

The whole Book of Discipline, Ward argued, reflects Jesus' ministry to the marginalized and includes statements confirming the sacredness of all humans including gays, and the importance of preserving civil rights for all people.

Dammann's counsel also argued that it is up to the church to prove that she is having sexual contact with someone of the same gender and that her saying she had sexual contact wasn't enough evidence.

Yesterday's first two expert witnesses, called by Dammann's defense, were biblical scholars who said that if the Bible passages commonly cited as evidence against homosexuality were taken into historical context, they wouldn't necessarily be a condemnation.

Dammann's trial is likely to have major repercussions on the denomination.

Its General Conference, which meets every four years to vote on church laws and teachings, meets in Pittsburgh next month and experts predict that whatever the verdict is, it is "bound to stir a lot of tension," said Thomas Frank, director of Methodist Studies at Emory University's Candler School of Theology in Atlanta.

"If Dammann is found guilty, supporters of gay and lesbian civil rights will probably organize even stronger. And if she's acquitted, some people will say, 'If this isn't enough to expel a person from ministry, what is?' "

The Rev. Rick Vinther, pastor of Woodinville Community United Methodist Church, who believes in church law as it stands on issues of homosexuality, says "the outcome of this trial has great impact for a lot of people on whether they're going to stay in the Methodist Church."

How the United Methodist Church deals with the conflict is probably being watched by other denominations as well, such as the Episcopal Church, whose recent consecration of an openly gay bishop spurred talk of schism, and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, which is studying whether to let people in committed homosexual relationships be ordained.

It's unclear how long Dammann's trial will continue, though it was scheduled through the weekend. Before it began yesterday, 33 people were arrested while peacefully blocking the entrance to the trial, saying church laws on homosexuality were unjust.

While the majority of demonstrators were Dammann's supporters, those supporting current church laws on homosexuality also attended the proceeding.

Janet I. Tu: 206-464-2272 or jtu@seattletimes.com