METHODIST COURT UPHOLDS REJECTION OF HOMOSEXUAL MEMBER

The United Methodist Church has refused to allow a homosexual to place membership:

The United Methodist Church's top court has refused to reconsider its ruling that a minister acted correctly when he refused church membership to a gay man, the church announced on Tuesday.

The nine-member Judicial Council was split on the matter, however, reflecting the continued divisions within many churches on the treatment of homosexuals in matters ranging from same-sex marriages to roles in the clergy.

The tribunal reaffirmed a decision made last October that the Rev. Edward Johnson of the South Hill, Virginia, United Methodist Church was within his rights for refusing to admit a homosexual man to church membership and should not have been suspended for doing so.

The earlier ruling said Johnson followed church law that gives the pastor-in-charge the right to decide who can be received into membership. It said he should be reinstated and given back pay to July 1, 2005, when he had been removed by his bishop.

The real crime was that Johnson was suspended in the first place.