Church dismisses pastor who came out as transgender in Sunday sermon
Member Anne McKye, speaking on behalf of the church’s executive council, wrote a letter to the congregation July 20 reporting that a congregational vote drew 52 percent of votes in favor of dismissing the pastor and 48 percent in favor of retaining the pastor. A total of 111 ballots were cast. Joplin reported the vote as 58 to 53.
“The last five weeks have been a difficult time in the life of our church as our discussion and decision about our future with or without Pastor Joplin has come suddenly and resulted in a wide range of strongly held views on how to proceed...”