Methodist Minister Reveals She is Gay During Sermon

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The Lord led a Methodist minister to share her “deep truth” with the congregation.

Reverend Cynthia Meyer of the United Methodist Church made a bold announcement January 3, during one of her sermons. The 25-year minister at her Edgerton, Kansas church outed herself as being gay.

Methodist Minister Reveals She is Gay During Sermon[/tweetthis]

Meyer informed her congregation that the Lord led her to share her “deep truth” with them. She explained that she’d been an ordained pastor at UMC for 25 years and that she is at last, “choosing to service in the role with full authenticity, as her genuine self, as a woman who loves and shares her life with another woman.”

Rev. Meyer stated that she’d stayed single for nearly 20 years, but that she fell in love with her now current partner, Mary, a few years ago.  She also went on to explain that after much prayer, she and her partner decided that it was the Holy Spirit that brought them together and claimed that their relationship is a “holy part of God’s calling on their lives.”

At the present, the UMC does not allow “self-avowed practicing” gay individuals to be ordained, nor do they allow same-sex marriage. Rev. Meyers stated that her relationship “will seem to some to challenge church policy.”

Rev. Meyer spoke with Christian Today saying that her decision to announce her sexuality was not an easy one and not just because of the possible repercussions it might have on her position as a church minister. She explained that she had been thinking, reflecting on and praying about her role in her church and what it means to be who she is and ways  of resolving the conflict between the parts of her identity. She said that it became clearer to her a few months ago, and that she sees it as a “sort of calling” on her life to speak publicly on the two: about who she is as an ordained minister and who she is as a woman who is in a committed, loving relationship with another woman.”

Rev. Meyers’ church congregation has supported her decision in an incredible way, according to the minister. She went on to state that after the church service, she actually received a lot of hugs and affirmative words from numerous members of the congregation. She said that one of the most frequent comments she heard was, “We hope you continue to be our pastor. We want to be with you in this.”

Despite the positive reception receiver from the members of her congregation, at the time of her interview with Christian Today, she was still awaiting word from her Church superiors, and was expecting it would be much less approving. She could be facing disciplinary action and may even be removed from her leadership position within the church.

She was still waiting to hear from her bishop, the district superintendent or the Methodist conference at the time. She said it is possible that she may be suspended and may even be facing a Church trial down the road.

Bishop Scott Jones, who oversees Rev. Meyer, sent a statement to Christian today that stated that her “coming out” as a “self-avowed practicing” homosexual is a chargeable offense for clergy in the UMC and that a “supervisory response process” officially began on January 7

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