Non-binary Couple's Wedding
JACKSON, Miss.: Rev. Elizabeth Davidson (at left) and Rev. Paige Swaim-Pressley officiated at the wedding ceremony of a non-binary couple, Matty Cafiero and their partner, Myles, who became acquainted with the clergywomen when they were college chaplains. (Courtesy Photo)
UPDATE April 27, 2023 –
Justice in Mississippi, an ad hoc group supporting two clergywomen facing punishment for officiating the wedding of a non-binary couple, announced April 26 that it has received "letters signed by more than 200 students, staff, and alumni of Duke Divinity School, where Rev. Elizabeth Davidson is an alumna, and Candler School of Theology, where Rev. Paige Swaim-Presley is an alumna."
An email from the group stated; "Most of the signatories are active clergy serving churches around the country. These letters, which are available in PDF form here, are signed in solidarity with Rev. Elizabeth Davidson and Rev. Paige Swaim Presley.
The announcement stress that "these letters are not official letters from Candler School of Theology or Duke Divinity School, but of concerned students, alumni, faculty, and staff."
ORIGINAL ARTICLE BEGINS HERE
JACKSON, Miss.—When two former students asked their United Methodist college chaplains to help them celebrate their love in Christian marriage, the clergy knew they had to say yes. Now they may lose their clergy credentials for what they and their supporters see as an act of ministry required by United Methodist rules.
The Rev. Elizabeth Davidson and the Rev. Paige Swaim-Presley felt compelled to offer the ministries of the church to all persons, as they vowed to do in their ordination as United Methodist clergy. They now face a potential termination of their clergy status because they officiated what some are interpreting as a same-sex wedding, which church law currently forbids. It is unclear if the denomination’s Discipline even speaks specifically to the marriage in question, between two non-binary people.
United Methodist Bishop Sharma Lewis of Mississippi denied the request of the two clergywomen for further talks to reach a complaint resolution, as recommended by the United Methodist Book of Discipline, the collection of church laws. Instead the bishop is requesting immediate unpaid involuntary leave and a public church trial which could end with the clergy stripped of their ministerial orders.
Traditionally, United Methodist clergy and their bishop will make a determined attempt to reach what's known as a "just resolution" before moving a complaint like this forward to a costly church trial. In the past, church trial has run $100,000 or more.
Bishop Lewis abruptly ended talks with the two clergywomen who requested a mediator, according to the clergywomen. Now, all that stands in the way of their potential expulsion from United Methodist ordained ministry is the possibility their colleagues may agree that the penalty the bishop is calling for too extreme in comparison to similar past incidents. Bishop Lewis's action exceeds the penalties called for by the so-called "Traditonal Plan," a set of heightened penalties adopted by the special called 2019 General Conference. General Conference is the body that enacts United Methodist policy and is the only body empowered to speak for the entireee 12-million worldwide United Methodist denomination.
The Mississippi Board of Ordained Ministry Executive Committee will first vote on the bishop’s request to place them on “involuntary leave,” a clergy status in the United Methodist Book of Discipline reserved for those who are allegedly displaying “incompetence, ineffectiveness, or inability to perform ministerial duties.” This status is normally only invoked under circumstances in which profound harm would occur should the clergy person remain in active service, such as when the allegations involve sexual abuse or child abuse. While it is possible to invoke this status during a process adjudicating allegations of violating certain church laws, it is extraordinarily rare for a bishop to do so. If the committee supports the involuntary leave, the decision will need to be affirmed by a two-thirds vote of all United Methodist Mississippi clergy who will meet in Tupelo at the end of June.
According to the Discipline, the bishop is only allowed to seek this punitive leave status if the complaint “cannot clearly be resolved in 90 days,” an action with which the two clergywomen disagree as they have requested and been refused the help of a mediator to avoid putting the denomination through the pain of a church trial. The two clergywomen's supporters contend that a trial that would once again highlight The United Methodist Church’s discriminatory and harmful stance against LGBTQ people. Even if UMC clergy of Mississippi vote against involuntary leave, the two clergywomen are still likely headed toward such a trial so long as the bishop remains unwilling to negotiate a resolution.
In an email to the clergy, Bishop Lewis stated: “I do believe that you intentionally violated your ministerial vows and that this act of knowing disobedience cannot be resolved outside of termination of your clergy relationship… …I do not feel that there is any resolution for your ministerial disobedience short of removal of your clergy status, [so] I did not choose to engage [the mediated Just Resolution] process during the Supervisory Response.”
Revs. Davidson and Swaim-Pressley, both former college chaplains, met the students through their involvement in the Wesley Connexion ministry at Millsaps College.
“We walked with them through the formative years of college and had the privilege of discipling them through Bible studies, one on one conversations, sharing theological books and discussions, and even having one member of the couple serve as our Wesley Connexion intern over multiple semesters,” said Rev. Swaim-Pressley. “We affirmed from the beginning of our ministry with these students that God loves and affirms their whole, authentic selves. To say no to their wedding would have done harm. We made a vow to do no harm.”
“Through our pastoral relationship we had the great privilege of ministering with them as they trusted us with some of their very hardest days, so when they invited us to participate in one of their best days we were honored,” said Rev. Davidson. “We could not and would not turn down this opportunity to continue serving as their pastors.”
The United Methodist Book of Discipline's Social Principles state: "We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. All persons need the ministry of the Church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconcil-ing relationships with God, with others, and with self" (Paragraph 161G). The next paragraph goes on to condemn "homosexuality" as "incompatible with Christian teaching," but doesn't address the spectrum of human sexuality that includes non-binary and transgender persons.
The clergywomen stressed that their primary concern is the physical, emotional, and spiritual wellbeing of the couple, who both identify their gender as non-binary. The married couple said, “We have been harmed by being publicly misgendered and in the politicizing of our personal decision to live into our calling of Christian marriage, which we celebrated in a beautiful and intimate wedding with our loved ones. We wanted our church, imperfect as it is, at the center of our commitment to together reflect to the world what God’s love looks like in our love for each other.”
Clergy in The United Methodist Church are caught in a Book of Discipline quandary, contend the two clergywomen's supporters.
To obey discriminatory rules forbidding the officiating of same-sex marriage would mean to break other rules of the Discipline that require ministries of the church to be offered to all people, as well as a requirement for clergy to follow their conscience, resisting harm and unjust rules. Rev. Davidson, a deacon, and Rev. Swaim-Pressley, an elder, were hoping to reach a Just Resolution with Bishop Lewis in compliance with the standard process for addressing complaints laid out in the Discipline. However the bishop abruptly ended that process with an ultimatum at the end of March, giving the clergy a day to either surrender their credentials or face a church trial and an additional threat of being put on an involuntary leave of absence. The clergy did not surrender their credentials.
The bishop's action is being seen by many supporters of LGBTQ+ inclusion as an extreme action, even given the UMC's history of discrimination against LGBTQ+ persons. Based on resolutions adopted by all five U.S. jurisdictions in November 2022, LGBTQ+ church members and their allies are hopeful that the 2024 General Conference will rescind bans on same-gender marriage and ordaining LGBTQ+ persons.
Making a joint statement, Revs. Swaim-Pressley and Davidson said, “It is our hope that this distraction to our collective ministry will be resolved quickly so we can all return to telling a hurting world about God’s love, and the good news of liberation for all people that Jesus Christ came to bring. In officiating this wedding, we were simply trying to live out the call of Jesus who always placed himself with the oppressed and marginalized. If we must be punished for doing so, we are at peace. To all LGBTQ+ persons and specifically to our beloved transgender siblings: you are loved by a God who affirms and delights in all of who you are, no matter what any church might say.”
Statement from the Married Couple
This press release was edited for clarity aand accuracy.