Out of the closet, out of the flock

From North Jersey-

When the Rev. Laurie A. McNeill married a woman in October, she feared what it might cost her — her calling.

Days before the nuptials, McNeill asked her colleagues and congregation at Central Presbyterian Church in Montclair to rejoice with her.

It was totally possible, she said, that congregants might have known she was a lesbian for the five years she was their pastor.

But it wasn’t talked about.

And until last year, she said all seemed well in the house of worship located in a progressive New Jersey town that has long been welcoming to gays and lesbians.


Several months after her legal marriage in Massachusetts, the church’s congregation voted McNeill out of her pastoral position.

The local church maintains it was due to personnel matters, specifically leadership and administrative abilities.

"I think the congregation could have lived with me being gay," McNeill said. "Announcing I was married pushed it over the edge."

More here-

http://www.northjersey.com/news/national/98001269_Out_of_the_closet__and_the_flock.html