Religion

Ask but don't tell

United Methodists in the Pacific Northwest have come up with a novel way to flout their denomination's law that bars "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from serving as pastors: Hear and see no evil. It all began at an annual church conference last summer when the Rev. Mark Williams of Woodland Park United Methodist Church in Seattle declared for the record that he was "proudly" a "practicing gay man." He was living with a partner. Pressed by conservative pastors to enforce the law, Bishop Elias Galvan months later filed formal charges against Rev. Williams. But not until this spring did the bishop's nine-member investigating committee start its inquiry. The committee confronted Rev. Williams with the obligatory question that he declined to answer. With that, the committee dismissed the charges, saying there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a trial. The decision could not be appealed. Rev. Williams remains a pastor in good standing. The episode left many United Methodists wondering whether church law can ever be enforced anywhere its opponents are in charge. —Edward E. Plowman