Lesbian Minister in PA

Wow! I just got this article e-mailed to me from my friend Lia. (Thanks for the tip!) The basic news is this: the ecclesiastical court of appeals in the Methodist church that was above the one that defrocked Ms. Stroud has reversed the lower court's decision and decided to reinstate her. What great news! At the moment, I have more questions than answers:

--How did the court come to this decision?
--Is this the highest level of appeal?
--What does this mean for other lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender clergy in the Methodist church?
--How does this affect the larger General Conference's ability to dictate the policies of the United Methodist church?

Hmmmm.... very interesting. I hope this will be a move forward for equal acceptance in the UMC.