Baptist Church in Indiana Ordains the First Trans Pastor in Its Denomination By Stephanie Martin for Church Leaders
GNN Note – How can a house of God actually hire someone that is challenging one of the core tenants of God? Who has spent their life and resources to call God a fool, a liar and stand toe-to-toe with God and spit in His face? How is this is even possible? /END
Not long after the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America elected its first transgender bishop, a transgender woman was ordained in a Baptist church. At a May 23 ceremony, Laura Bethany Buchleiter was ordained at University Baptist Church in Bloomington, Indiana. The congregation, which left the Southern Baptist Convention in 1999 after accepting a female pastor, is part of the Georgia-based Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (CBF).
Although some reports identify this as a “first,” Buchleiter clarifies on Facebook: “I’m not the first transgender person to be ordained in a Baptist church, I may be just the second—and the first in a CBF church. I’m very grateful for those who have gone before me, and am also very aware that we are all still pioneers in this space.”
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University Baptist Pastor Annette Briggs says, “We’re not ordaining Laura Beth because she is transgender. Our church self-identifies as a church that listens to the call of the people irrespective of gender or sexual orientation.” Briggs adds of Buchleiter’s ministry, “It’s a whole lot easier to tell the truth when you’re not hiding a truth.”
Who Is Laura Bethany Buchleiter?
Laura Bethany Buchleiter, 49, graduated from Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis the day before being ordained. While studying there, Buchleiter served as interim pastor at University Baptist, and up next is an interim pastorate at a United Church of Christ congregation in Wyoming.
Buchleiter, who grew up in a conservative family that moved frequently, says, “My desire is to continue to work with churches, mostly in the Midwest, as an interim pastor to help navigate change and transition.” The pastor describes knowing “in early childhood” that “something was different” but never being “allowed to develop a language for that.”
