Controversy over gays draws in 2 ministers

PHILADELPHIA — The controversy over the role of gays in the church has taken a new twist in two Protestant denominations where officials are scrutinizing the actions of ministers.

The United Methodist Church has ordered a second investigation into whether the Rev. Elizabeth Stroud of Philadelphia should be put on trial because she acknowledged a lesbian relationship in a sermon last year.

Earlier, Stroud had been ordered to face a church trial. But the case's overseer, retired Bishop Joseph Yeakel, invalidated that action because lay members were part of a panel that issued the ruling. Church law restricts the board to clergy members.

In the Presbyterian Church (USA), the Rev. Jim Rigby of Austin, Texas, faces charges over conducting ceremonies for same-sex couples and ordaining an openly lesbian elder.

Presbyterian law and court rulings forbid same-sex blessings that are akin to marriages, and require officeholders to observe either fidelity within heterosexual marriage "or chastity in singleness."

Charges against Rigby were filed by Paul Rolf Jensen, a Virginia lawyer who has pursued accusations against other U.S. Presbyterian clergy in similar cases. A regional committee will decide whether the case proceeds.