Elizabeth Stroud files an Appeal with the Methodist Church

They voted to defrock her after she publicly admitted to being a lesbian and having a same-sex partner. And now she is appealing the decision.

Ms. Stroud said she hesitated to appeal because she is tired and dislikes being in the spotlight, but "there are questions the larger church needs to discuss and wrestle with."

She says that Methodist law, "calls us as a church to stand against every form of discrimination" and "treat all people as equally loved by God."

one factor in her decision was something retired Bishop Joseph Yeakel, the judge who presided at her church trial, said to her after the verdict. Yeakel told Stroud "the day will come when the church apologizes for this decision."

Now, if he thinks the church is going to apologize for this decision some time in the future, perhaps they could have just eliminated all the pain and the future apology and made a different decision.

I really respect and admire Ms. Stroud. She's standing up and fighting for something she believes in, even though she's not really a standing-up and fighting kind of gal. She's not just doing this for herself but for all the god-fearing homosexuals and other minorities out there as well as for the future of the Methodist Church. Kind of reminds me of Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.