Bisexual pastor resigns her post

A Seventh-day Adventist pastor has resigned from her Arizona pulpit and announced via video that she is bisexual.

“Through study and prayer, I’ve come to a point of complete disagreement with the Adventist Church on their teachings about LGBT people,” Alicia Johnston said in a video posted on Facebook earlier this month. “I also myself am bisexual so I’ve come to an awareness of that and have realized I just can’t live my life with integrity anymore without being honest about that.”

The Arizona Conference Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists issued a statement calling Johnston a “gifted theologian and pastor” and noting its determination to abide by the stances of the church.

“While the Seventhday Adventist Church deeply believes it’s our responsibility to minister to all people, we also have a mandate to adhere to all Bible teachings,” the conference said. “Fundamental Belief #23 states: ‘Marriage was divinely established in Eden and affirmed by Jesus to be a lifelong union between a man and a woman in loving companionship.’ ”

Johnston, 36, is unusual not only in her decision to reveal her bisexuality but also in her recent roles as a licensed woman minister and the sole pastor of her church.

Seventh-day Adventists voted in 2015 to not allow their regional bodies to ordain women pastors. Women pastors have often held their positions without being formally ordained in the church.