Anna's case has been "resolved"--with them being on "voluntary" leave, and a trial being "avoided." Story from Iowa Conference. November 13, 2019
Anna Blaedel has been hounded out of the ministry (at least for awhile). Story from Hacking Christianity.
Anna's continuing ministry at "Enfleshed."
A look at The "Just Resolution." A forward-looking and reparative justice approach was attempted. Rev. Blaedel points out the brokenness that has happened by this (and many other similar complaints--br).
...Though “it does not do justice, this resolution reflects our best effort to make things as right as possible in a broader context that does not yet enable full justice, repair, or accountability.” The resolution calls “the Church to repentance and repair.”...
The preamble of the Just Resolution asks, “What harm has been done?” In his complaint, Mr. John Lomperis does not name any harm that has been done to him by Rev.Anna Blaedel. Neither has the Iowa Conference identified harm that has been done to it by Rev. Blaedel (paragraph 5)."
The preamble notes, in a subsequent paragraph, “the complaint by Mr. Lomperis against Rev. Blaedel, and the subsequent actions of the Iowa Conference in handling that complaint, have resulted in harm to Rev. Blaedel specifically and directly, as well as to LGBTQIA+ persons and the broader Church in material and spiritual ways. We recognize that these years under complaint have been damaging to Rev. Blaedel’s life and ministry, affecting them in countless and perhaps irreparable ways, including physically, spiritually, professionally, vocationally, and financially” (paragraph 6).
The preamble continues, “In addition, we recognize that the harm to Rev. Blaedel is only one manifestation of the historical and ongoing harm done to LGBTQIA+ persons through the policies and practices of the Iowa Conference and The United Methodist Church...Relentless debate, persecution, and prosecution of LGBTQIA+ persons have not only violated the sacred worth of our LGBTQIA+ kin but have diminished the Church’s witness to God’s grace in the world” ( paragraphs 7, 8)....
Speaking about the Just Resolution, Rev. Jerry E. Oakland, counsel for the church, talked about a common commitment to “once more to doing everything in our power to do no harm and to do good.” He sees the Just Resolution as a “step toward restorative justice,” one that can be an “offer to embrace our sister in faith once more.”
Oakland describes the complaint as an attempt “to push Anna Blaedel into isolation... [and] to alienate them from their colleagues and the Church - the Church into which they were born, baptized, called, and ordained – to alienate them from the Church to which they have given their life and their service.” It was Oakland’s hope that “our words of contrition and our actions of repentance will open the door for healing and for sacred discernment of the steps we take in seeking God’s direction.” He believes “Rev. Blaedel has been wounded by each of us who, in our complicity or silence or confusion, have allowed injustice to destroy the lives and ministry of others,” and, as a result, “our own lives and ministries have been stained.”...
Rev. Blaedel's statement (in part):
“My heart is broken open,” Rev. Blaedel shared. “I was born into a denomination that declares that my very being and loving is incompatible with Christian teaching. I was called into ordained ministry in a denomination and a conference that I thought might never ordain me, but did. When I started the candidacy process almost twenty years ago, I knew I did not have the power to control the outcome.” And yet, they said, even so, “I did have the power to show up faithfully to the process.”
For Rev. Blaedel, “The truth is: I had hoped more would be possible. This resolution is not just. None of this is ok. And, I believe, I have done, we have done, what I, what we, can ... I have not wanted to lose, nor be forced to leave, the denomination that has baptized, confirmed, called, commissioned, ordained, and appointed me ... the truth [is] that it is not currently possible for me to continue my ministry in the context of the Iowa Annual Conference, nor the UMC. That is not the truth I want to come to, but it has been, is being, revealed as true. I have hoped for a different conclusion to this story, and resolution to this series of complaints. And the story is still being written. But. And. I am no longer willing to subject my body and soul and life to this particular violence.”
Noting, “it never had to be this way,” Rev. Blaedel expressed appreciation for those who worked together on the Just Resolution. “Those of us who have signed this resolution are seeking to reduce the harm. We have done hard and holy work together. We have shown up honestly, and relationally. Interpersonally, we’re good. Thank you for showing up, in the ways that you did.”...
[Bishop Haller says,] "humbly acknowledging the unrelenting pain that our sister Anna Blaedel has experienced because of the complaint that was filed against them eighteen months ago and the length of the process that has led us to this point,” said Bishop Laurie Haller. “What have we become when a complaint process that was meant to produce justice and reconciliation only results in more pain?” (Read Bishop Haller’s statement.)
Bishop Haller acknowledged, “The United Methodist Church is broken because we are still not able to honor our differences around human sexuality.” She also wondered, “Where did Jesus say it’s okay to hate and exclude? How can we justify this? And how do we explain it to our children and grandchildren? ...What has become of our heart?”
The Bishop believes “with humility and grace, it is time to throw open the doors of the church for everyone.” As a result, she has “made a commitment to avoid, if at all possible, the processing of complaints, charges, and trials related to officiating at same-gendered weddings and LGBTQIA identity and credentialing, and I will always seek just resolution first.” Bishop Laurie is also asking, “both laity and clergy exercise restraint in filing complaints at this time.”
Anna Blaedel's Case Will Go to Trial
by Cynthia B. Astle
August 13, 2019
The Rev. Anna Blaedel will face a third church trial on a charge of violating the Book of Discipline for being an ordained clergywoman while also being a "self-avowed practicing homosexual," according to the decision of the Iowa Annual Conference's Committee on Investigations.
Rev. Blaedel disclosed the decision in a Facebook post quoting the committee's email:
“'It is with a heavy heart,' it began. The Committee on Investigation voted to refer the bill of charges to trial. I am 'charged with the offense of practices declared by The United Methodist Church to be incompatible with Christian teachings, specifically being a self-avowed and practicing homosexual, pursuant to Paragraph 2702.1(b) of the Book of Discipline.'”
Rev. Blaedel continued:
"I receive this news with deep sadness and grief. We offered and invited ways to do this differently, and had hoped against hope that this might be an opportunity to create something more just, holy, and loving, together. Investing and wasting precious resources on a trial is cause for lament. So too, the relationships broken through this avoidable and preventable harm. We will only become a more just and loving church and world when we confess our complicity in evil, resist and divest from participation in it, and commit to doing it differently. I do not know what the vote was, or if anyone on the Committee tried to resist. Counsel for the Church, Rev. Bob Ward, had the chance to recommend dismissing the charge; instead he certified it and recommended a trial. The Committee on Investigation had the chance to dismiss the charge; instead they certified it and are initiating a trial.
"I grieve what and who the Iowa Annual Conference and UMC is becoming. Is this the church you want to be?"
Continue reading at UM-Insight.
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Love One Another?
by William D. Cotton
July 30, 2019
Special to United Methodist Insight
On August 8, 2019, a Committee on Investigation for our United Methodist Church will gather in Des Moines, Iowa, to conduct a hearing. The person charged is one of the bright and shining stars of our denomination. Several years ago, The Rev. Anna Blaedel came to our church (Grace United Methodist in Des Moines) to serve as Associate Pastor. Our congregation fell in love with Anna. Later she distinguished herself as Campus Minister in the Wesley Foundation at the University of Iowa. ...
As an 86-year-old retired pastor, I write this to also say, please do not judge our Church by the behavior of a few. Hearings and church trials are not typical of the way we Methodists behave, and as a pastor, I am ashamed by our behavior. It is a blight and stain on all of us who claim Jesus the Christ as our neighbor, our Sovereign, our only hope in this world and the next. Did we not clearly hear his message to “love one another”? [Read it all at UM-Insight.] See also this page for other charges and trials.
[Update] Followup story on UM-Insight
Parties Await Decision on Complaint Against Anna Blaedel
August 9, 2019
Sometime early next week, the Rev. Anna Blaedel will learn their fate as a United Methodist clergywoman – for the third time.
Rev. Blaedel faced the Iowa Annual Conference Committee on Aug. 8 after a complaint was brought against her by John Lomperis, a United Methodist layman from Indiana. Mr. Lomperis filed the complaint against Rev. Blaedel as a "self-avowed, practicing homosexual" who is ineligible to serve as a United Methodist ordained elder. Rev. Blaedel recently resigned as director of the Wesley Foundation at the University of Iowa rather than subject the ministry to the stresses of a possible church trial, according to their departure announcement.
The Iowa Annual Conference's Committee on Investigations is required to give its recommendation on the complaint within five days of the Aug. 8 hearing.
Prior to the hearing, the committee took the unusual step of issuing a press release on the proceedings. Investigations into complaints against clergy typically are kept confidential unless a clergy trial is held. The committee stressed that the hearing was solely to determine whether Mr. Lomperis's complaint is legitimate and what course of action to recommend. If the complaint is found valid, Rev. Blaedel could face discipline ranging from a negotiated "just resolution" to a full-blown trial and the removal of their ordination. [Read more at UM-Insight]