Source: Washington Post, AP via Examiner.com, Washington Times
A conservative Christian group yesterday criticized a large Methodist church in the District for planning to offer services that recognize gay and lesbian relationships, saying they violate the United Methodist ban on same-sex unions.

Foundry United Methodist Church, which Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton attended when he was president, decided last month to support its senior pastor's decision to lead services that "recognize and honor" committed gay relationships. Foundry clergy, however, do not perform union ceremonies, the local bishop said.

Foundry's February newsletter says the nearly 200-year-old church will host services that honor same-sex unions that "include testimonials from their friends and loved ones." The new policy went into effect Feb. 1.

The Institute on Religion and Democracy says the services violate the United Methodist ban on same-sex unions. The group is demanding that the bishop of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church prevent the services.

The bishop, John Schol, said Thursday that the services don't violate church law.

"Foundry Church is working hard at being faithful to the United Methodist Church," he said, adding that Foundry is "also a congregation that is seeking to minister to the broad community that it serves."

In this month's church Newsletter, Foundry's senior pastor, Dean Snyder, described the services -- which will not include wedding vows -- as "an attempt to be ecclesiastically obedient while at the same time offering pastoral care to our members," the Rev. Dean Snyder, senior pastor, said in the article.

The newsletter described Foundry as having a "large gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender membership" and as a "leader in making the United Methodist Church more inclusive."

In an earlier Nov. 11 pastoral letter, Foundry's senior pastor, Dean Snyder, said he wanted to remain obedient to church law and that the worship services would not be "ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions." Rather, his letter said, they would "include the worship of God and recognize and honor the commitment which has previously been made."

Church members have been asking for such a service for the past three years, Snyder said in the Nov. 11 letter. Only couples that are members and have taken part in a "Pre-Cana" marriage preparation weekend can participate.

Foundry's Church Council endorsed Snyder's letter last month.

Full article: Church Criticized Over Gay Services Plan - washingtonpost.com
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