Stroud, 34, is the third Methodist minister to be tried for homosexual practices. The first, Rose Mary Denman, was convicted and defrocked in New Hampshire in 1987. The second, Karen Dammann, was acquitted in March after a trial in Bothell, Wash., that prompted the denomination to tighten its rules.
Feminists in the church have noted that all three defendants were women. No men have been prosecuted, even though at least one male minister publicly proclaimed his homosexuality in 2001.
Irene Elizabeth Stroud was found guilty of violating the United Methodist Church ban on "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" in the clergy.
(Tim Shaffer -- Reuters)
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Although Stroud can no longer perform baptisms or administer the sacrament of Holy Communion, she remains on the staff of the First United Methodist Church of Germantown, a Philadelphia-area parish founded in 1796 that was active in the civil rights movement, antiwar protests during the Vietnam years and sheltering Central American refugees in the 1980s.
The Germantown parish's tradition of social protest as well as its recent divisions, declining membership and financial troubles are the main subject of "The Congregation," which was co-produced by WETA and is scheduled to air tomorrow from 9:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Filmmaker Susan Raymond said yesterday that she and her husband picked the church more than two years ago because they wanted to focus on a mainline Protestant congregation struggling to hold onto its members, particularly its youth.
"We had no idea of Beth's sexual identity. It didn't even occur to us when we selected the church to ask whether she was gay," she said.
Much of "The Congregation" focuses on the tensions produced by the arrival of a traditionalist senior pastor, the Rev. Fred Day, in 2001. Although on the surface the congregation was divided over the quality of Day's sermons and liturgical style, the real issues were deeper.
"This is a unique church and I think maybe one that didn't want to be turned into a garden-variety Methodist church," Alan Raymond said.
Stroud, who has served as Day's associate pastor, gave the congregation a new cause. By supporting her wholeheartedly, Day won over much of the membership and reunified the congregation. But by the end of the film, Stroud has been defrocked and Day has announced his departure. He will leave in July.
