Campus minister at UI facing complaint over officiating same-sex wedding

A campus minister at a University of Iowa is facing discipline from the United Methodist Church for having performed a same-sex wedding last month. 

But the board of directors for the Wesley Student Center at UI is supporting the Rev. Anna Blaedel, the center's executive director. Blaedel faces possible censure from the Iowa Conference of the United Methodist Church for having officiated at a wedding ceremony April 4 in Oklahoma for a fellow clergywoman and her wife.

The Appointive Cabinet of the Iowa Conference filed a unanimous complaint last month against Blaedel, charging the campus minister with practices considered “to be incompatible with Christian teaching.” The cabinet includes the superintendents of the eight church districts within the state.

“I knew that officiating at this wedding could cost me my credentials, could cost me my job, could cost me my health insurance and could cost me my income," Blaedel told the Press-Citizen on Tuesday. "But I also knew that saying ‘no’ to one of my best friends would cost me my integrity and my soul.”

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Like many other Christian denominations, members and congregations within the multinational United Methodist Church disagree over questions of marriage and ordination for LGBTQ members. The denomination’s “Book of Discipline,” however, does not allow ministers to officiate at same-sex weddings nor does it allow “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” to be ordained as ministers.

The denomination's General Conference last year created a Commission on a Way Forward to continue the discussion on LGBTQ inclusion. The conference, which meets every four years, is the only body within the church that can make changes to the "Book of Discipline." A special meeting has been called for 2019 to receive the commission's report.

In the meantime, the church is focused on treading lightly to allow the commission to do its work, said Arthur McClanahan, director of communications for the denomination's Iowa Conference.

McClanahan said the primary purpose of the complaint process against Blaedel is to search for "a just resolution."

"A just resolution is one that focuses on repairing any harm to people and communities, achieving real accountability by making things right in so far as possible and bringing healing to all the parties," according to the denomination's "Book of Discipline."

Blaedel said there remains widespread disagreement between the various parties as to exactly what spiritual harm has been done and what kind of communal healing is required. Blaedel met with the members of the cabinet Monday to discuss the complaint, but nothing was decided.

The board of directors for the Wesley Student Center have issued a nearly unanimous letter of support for Blaedel.

“The Board rejects this formal complaint, and the policies of the Discipline that it is grounded in, as discriminatory and unjust and laments the disruption of ministry it will cause,” states the May 4 letter. “The physical and emotional demands of responding to such a complaint detract from Anna’s Wesley Center ministry.”

Christopher Cheatum, chairman of the board, said there is nothing in the Wesley Student Center's bylaws that requires the executive director be an appointed minister in the United Methodist Church. He feels strongly that the board would be willing to rehire Blaedel if the denomination decides to revoke her ordination.

The majority of the center's funding, however, comes from the church's Iowa Conference. 

"I can say unequivocally that lives have been deeply transformed by Anna's ministry," said Cheatum, a professor of chemistry at UI. "There are students who are frankly still alive and engaged with the world because they have come into relationship with her."

Blaedel said she would have to reevaluate her options if the denomination were to continue moving forward with the complaint process.

“This feels more like an assault on my ministry by the institution,” Blaedel said.

This is the second complaint against Blaedel. Three ministers within the Iowa Conference filed a complaint last year in response to remarks Blaedel made during the 2016 session of the Iowa Annual Conference.

“I am a ‘self-avowed practicing homosexual.’ Or, in my language, I am out, queer, partnered clergy,” Blaedel said at the time.

That complaint was dismissed Aug. 30 by Bishop Julius C. Trimble shortly before he left Iowa for a new position in Indianapolis. Since then, 17 Iowa United Methodist clergy and laity members have filed a complaint against Trimble.

The current complaint against Blaedel is being decided by Bishop Laurier Haller of Des Moines.

Despite the institutional challenge to her ministry, Blaedel has no current plans to leave the United Methodist Church. She, instead, is seeking "to encourage this church to be what I know it can be."

“The irony of this complaint is how regularly I am called on by the very system that is bringing this charge against me — the United Methodist Church — to provide pastoral resources and theological insight to churches around the state for how to minister to LGBTQ people,” Blaedel said.

The Wesley Center is recognized by UI as an official student organization, Blaedel said, but the ministry receives no funding or staff support from the university.

There about 650 United Methodist clergy in Iowa, serving about 160,000 members in 770 congregations. The broader United Methodist Church has about 12.2 million members worldwide.

Reach Jeff Charis-Carlson at jcharisc@press-citizen.com or 319-887-5435. Follow him on Twitter as @JeffCharis.