A Methodist female pastor had surgery to give her male features & yet she is still welcomed by her congregation as a spiritual leader.  What follows is a report from the United Methodist News Service (UMNS).  As you read this keep 3 things in mind:

1. The slogan on the United Methodist Church is "Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors" (source)

2. The people in 1 Cor 5 were rebuked by Paul for being proud of their tolerance of sexual perversion among them.

3. Much of the mentality expressed in this report is typical of the postmodernists in general.

I will interact with the report by posting blue text under the segments.  My comments are a very strong dose of sarcasm & ridicule because pretending even in the slightest that this kind of thinking is valid biblical thinking would only lend to the delusion.

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A transgender United Methodist pastor has shared his story with other members of the denomination's Baltimore-Washington Conference in the hopes of promoting a broader discussion about gender identity.

Ahhh.. the typical "sharing stories" postmodernistic approach where we are told to "share" our "life experience" as if that is an indicator of truth. 

The Rev. Drew Phoenix - formerly the Rev. Ann Gordon - spoke at both a closed clergy session and a general plenary session on May 24 during the annual conference meeting at the Wardman Park Hotel in Washington. He is pastor of St. John's United Methodist Church in Baltimore.

"I was very grateful for the opportunity to be able to share my story and who I am," Phoenix told United Methodist News Service in a phone interview following those sessions. "I was very pleased at the number of people who were very honest in their reflections and questions."

Awww...more "story sharing" & "openess" in reflecting.  Soooo loving!

He said he has been undergoing medical procedures for the transition from female to male during the past year, with "a great team of medical people who helped me think it out."

First, this person isn't a male now, it is a female with male features & will never be able to procreate like a male.  On top of that, I wonder if this "great team of medical people" were Christians & gave biblical counsel?  Who is it that helped her "think it out"???

In his statement to the plenary session, the 48-year-old pastor explained that "last fall, after a lifelong spiritual journey, and years of prayer and discernment, I decided to change my name from Ann Gordon to Drew Phoenix in order to reflect my true gender identity and to honor my spiritual transformation and relationship with God."

More postmodern-speak comes to us with the term "spiritual journey" as if there is nothing really settled in the Scriptures, since of course that would make us close-minded, arrogant, know-it-alls.  So this person thinks it is "honorable" to make this sexual perversion?  They think they are still in "relationship" with the God of the Bible?

By sharing the story of his spiritual journey and relationship with God, Phoenix said he hoped the conference participants "will commit ourselves to becoming educated about the complexity of gender and gender identity and open ourselves to those in our congregations who identify as transgender."

Ah yes, more about "story sharing" more about "journies", more about "relational Christianity" more about how we need to be more "open-minded" about sin & perversion. (Have you read 1 Cor 5 yet?)

Phoenix, who was ordained in 1989 and previously served in the Bethesda area, said he joined the ministry because of "a calling to be in service to folk who are oppressed, who are poor, who are excluded, who are marginalized."

She says she was "called to be in service to oppressed, poor, excluded, & marginalized" people.  That is oh-sooooo "loving" & generous.  That is exactly what God wants us to do, help people remain corrupt because God loves us just as we are -- that's why we don't like to tell people that God calls them to REPENT because that would indicate God wants people with changed hearts (not changed genders).  Wonder which person this woman would have sided with in 1 Cor 5?  Paul or the man having a sexual affair with his own step-mother?  This woman is oh-so more loving than that mean ole Paul!

Although he was named Ann and declared a girl, Phoenix said he always felt he was male and had trouble understanding "the disconnect I was experiencing between my physical, external self and my internal, spiritual self."

"Fortunately, today, God's gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body into alignment with my true gender," he told the plenary session.

Yes yes, that is why God has given us medical knowledge so that we can corrupt creation.  That is also the reason God gave mankind the ability of language & construction so that we could get together & build a tower to heaven...remember that? Gen 11:4

He had informed his bishop, John Schol, and his congregation about his decision to undergo the transition. Schol told United Methodist News Service that he, the conference cabinet and the congregation have approached the matter in a serious and prayerful manner.

Aww It's good they approached it in a "serious & prayerful manner" we certainly wouldn't want them to leave God out of this very important decision to corrupt creation...not to mention I've seen no reference to ANY biblical text on this matter, but merely "feelings".

The United Methodist Book of Discipline has no specific policies regarding gender reassignment. "The cabinet and myself have done everything to ensure that the Discipline is being carried out," Schol said.

Whew!!! It's a good thing they could consult that "Book of Discipline" which obviously is vague enough to allow perversion, because had they actually consulted the Bible where it is a sin even for men & women to be homosexual (Rom 1:26-27), just think how quickly this transgender garbage would be stopped in its tracks. Fortunately for this pervert, her & her  superiors were able to go ahead with it by avoiding consulting the Bible.

Both Phoenix and St. John's staff-parish committee requested that the pastor be reappointed to the church as part of the normal appointment cycle, which begins July 1. That request will be granted, according to the bishop.

Isn't it great that this congregation is so "merciful & loving" that they are proud, boasting, glorying in having this pervert back among them? Uh-un Paul, don't you dare say a word about this, you have no right to judge no matter what you say in 1 Cor 5.

Church members told Schol that under Phoenix's leadership, membership has grown and the congregation's financial situation has improved. "There is a spirit within the congregation that hasn't been experienced within a number of years," the bishop reported.

Wow!!! That's great.  Maybe next they should hire an assistant pastor who has sex with animals, that should really increase the membership & the financial situation.  God is certainly "blessing" that congregation, you can tell.

Phoenix believes his transition is making him "even more effective" as a pastor and said his greatest concern "is that the congregation continues to grow and thrive."

Ah, yes her "greatest concern" certainly wasn't that she wanted to make a mockery of the Word of God by doing this.  She just wants to help out the oppressed remember?

That growth, he pointed out, is evident at St. John's, located just north of downtown Baltimore. With a membership spanning a wide range of ages and backgrounds - including the first youth group and confirmation class in years - the congregation is planning to renovate its historic building.

Wow!!! First a sexual renovation & now a building renovation?  That has such symbolism to the "story" & "journey" of this "thriving" God-centered congregation. -- BARF!!!

Phoenix is not the first transgender clergy member in the Baltimore-Washington Conference. In 2002, the Rev. Rebecca A. Steen decided to leave the denomination after controversy over her desire to return to active ministry after gender reassignment.

Darn, she didn't get to be the first to help the excluded perverts.  Oh well.

She had sought voluntary leave from the conference in 1999. Prior to that time, Steen, who was then the Rev. Richard A. Zamostny, had served churches in three Maryland communities during a 17-year career.

Wow! 17 years of oppression, how horrible.  Fortunately  for these perverts there are plenty of people now advocating a "big love" church that accepts all people (even perverts) so it won't be long before the "excluded & marginalized" will be able to come out of the closet & share their "journey stories"  -- Awwww <goose-bumps>  -- SICK!!!

(source)