Church of the Nazarene expels theologian over LGBT advocacy
The Church of the Nazarene has decided to expel a theologian and author from the denomination due to his advocacy to affirm same-sex marriage.
The Rev. Thomas Jay Oord of Nampa, Idaho, was found guilty by a Church of the Nazarene court on Saturday for advancing teachings that go against the biblically-based stances of the denomination.
Specifically, the church court took issue with a book that Oord co-authored with his bisexual daughter titled Why the Church of the Nazarene Should Be Fully LGBTQ+ Affirming.
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“Oord is guilty of conduct unbecoming a minister and of teaching doctrines out of harmony with the doctrinal statement of the Church of the Nazarene,” read the decision, as quoted by the Roys Report.
“Oord has shown absolutely no repentance or willingness to submit to the authority of the church … his behavior exhibits a pattern of disregard and disrespect for authority.”
Samuel Powell, a retired theology professor at Point Loma Nazarene University and former dean of the School of Theology and Christian Ministry, told the Roys Report that his sentence was unprecedented.
“Defrocking was not unexpected, but expelling him from membership is harsh and vindictive,” Powell asserted. “We’re doing everything we can to keep people. There never has been an attempt to weed out members who don’t believe everything.”
For his part, Oord posted a copy of the ruling on his blog, explaining in the post that “I’m now considered a heretic who has been defrocked and excommunicated.”
He also claimed that the “summary of the trial proceedings and witness testimonies in this verdict is not accurate” and that his witnesses were “highly dissatisfied with how their testimonies are characterized here (and rightly so).”
“The one very accurate statement is that I am not repenting for loving queer people,” Oord added in his blog post.
The Church of the Nazarene traces its origins to the 19th century Wesleyan Holiness Movement and is a member of the World Methodist Council. The denomination reports having more than 30,000 churches globally and approximately 2.6 million members.
Oord is not the first Church of the Nazarene figure in the United States to face punishment for advancing progressive views on LGBT issues within the Methodist denomination.
The Rev. Selden Dee Kelley III, senior pastor at San Diego First Church of the Nazarene in California, was found guilty last year of violating church teaching by a nine-member jury and lost his preaching credentials as a result.
Kelley had also contributed an essay to the Oords' book, Why the Church of the Nazarene Should Be Fully LGBTQ+ Affirming, which was released in April 2023.
Kelley has appealed the decision and reportedly has the support of his congregation, which voted to continue his salary during the appeals process.
