Hmm.
In the light of more issues concerning the Church and sexuality / gender identity affecting almost every conceivable denomination in Christianity, I found an article online that was interesting.
[Transgendered] Minister kept secret for 27 years
Weekley listens to his friend espouse the opinion of the church, and buries his secret deeper. No one can ever find out that Weekley, a married father of five in Southeast Portland and a Methodist clergyman of 27 years, was born female.
Until now, there has been just one openly transgender Methodist clergyman in the U.S. to retain his ordination (That man, Drew Phoenix, 50, had his ordination challenged by members of the church after coming out publicly in 2007 to his congregation in St. John’s of Baltimore United Methodist Church in Maryland.)
Today, Sunday, Aug. 30, Weekley - who leads the congregation at the Epworth United Methodist Church in the Sunnyside neighborhood in inner Southeast Portland - became the second. Just months after telling his own children that he was not their biological father, Weekley, who is in his late-50s, came out to his congregation of 221 members.
He told them that in 1984, just nine years after undergoing extensive sex-reassignment surgeries, he was ordained by the Methodist Church without telling anyone of his original gender at birth. Following his story, the congregation, who had remained silent throughout his talk, broke into thunderous applause. Church members then proclaimed their support for their pastor.
“It doesn’t change him; he’s still Reverend David, and that’s what counts,” says congregation member Robbie Tsuboi, who has been attending Epworth since 1964.
This made me curious. We've certainly had discussions about gender and sexuality in the Church, but most of it seems to be confined to the issue of women or gays. It's not often that we discuss the issue of transexuals (which is different from gays, although people tend to confuse them as the same thing -- transexuality is more of an identity issue, homosexuality is a sexual orientation).
Hypothetically speaking, if you were a member of the congregation, what would your reaction be like? What factors would influence your decision / reaction?
Edit: Just to clarify, I don't have a particular position, and me asking this question is to find out what others think, and why they think that way.
[Transgendered] Minister kept secret for 27 years
Weekley listens to his friend espouse the opinion of the church, and buries his secret deeper. No one can ever find out that Weekley, a married father of five in Southeast Portland and a Methodist clergyman of 27 years, was born female.
Until now, there has been just one openly transgender Methodist clergyman in the U.S. to retain his ordination (That man, Drew Phoenix, 50, had his ordination challenged by members of the church after coming out publicly in 2007 to his congregation in St. John’s of Baltimore United Methodist Church in Maryland.)
Today, Sunday, Aug. 30, Weekley - who leads the congregation at the Epworth United Methodist Church in the Sunnyside neighborhood in inner Southeast Portland - became the second. Just months after telling his own children that he was not their biological father, Weekley, who is in his late-50s, came out to his congregation of 221 members.
He told them that in 1984, just nine years after undergoing extensive sex-reassignment surgeries, he was ordained by the Methodist Church without telling anyone of his original gender at birth. Following his story, the congregation, who had remained silent throughout his talk, broke into thunderous applause. Church members then proclaimed their support for their pastor.
“It doesn’t change him; he’s still Reverend David, and that’s what counts,” says congregation member Robbie Tsuboi, who has been attending Epworth since 1964.
This made me curious. We've certainly had discussions about gender and sexuality in the Church, but most of it seems to be confined to the issue of women or gays. It's not often that we discuss the issue of transexuals (which is different from gays, although people tend to confuse them as the same thing -- transexuality is more of an identity issue, homosexuality is a sexual orientation).
Hypothetically speaking, if you were a member of the congregation, what would your reaction be like? What factors would influence your decision / reaction?
Edit: Just to clarify, I don't have a particular position, and me asking this question is to find out what others think, and why they think that way.