On July 23, Rev. Stephen Heiss, an elder in the Upper New York Annual Conference, made public the fact that a complaint had been filed against him in conjunction with a widely publicized and deeply moving letter he had written to his bishop, Mark Webb, in May. In the letter, Rev. Heiss had written: “I have officiated at several weddings for brothers and sisters who are lesbian or gay.”
MIND issued the folllowing statement:
We commend Rev. Stephen Heiss for living out his ordination vows to “seek peace, justice, and freedom for all people” by refusing to differentiate between his gay and straight parishioners. Actions speak louder than words, they say, and by his actions Rev. Heiss chose biblical obedience to the radically inclusive Gospel over obedience to a flawed human institution. Methodists in New Directions stands in solidarity with Stephen Heiss and with all those who minister to God’s LGBTQ children.
This case is the latest evidence that United Methodists all over the United States are transcending the paralysis and spiritual crisis caused by the UMC’s requirement to discriminate by living into a new reality. There are over 1,100 clergy in 15 annual conferences who have pledged to extend their ministry to all couples. The United Methodist Church is facing a crisis of authority of its own making. Yet courageous clergy like Rev. Heiss are breathing new life into the church and saving it from being an irrelevant bigoted remnant in the 21st century.
We hope that the Upper New York Annual Conference considers the whole of the Book of Discipline and the Methodist traditions of social holiness as it proceeds in this case; that a truly just resolution be reached; and that Bishop Mark Webb refuses to prosecute a clergy member for acts of pastoral conscience.
The Upper New York conference issued a statement on the matter the day after Rev. Heiss announced the complaint against him.