Methodist Pastor Announces Male-to-Female Transition During Sunday Service
A New York pastor is drawing national attention after he declared during his Sunday sermon that he identifies as transgender and is transitioning to female.
Rev. Phillip Phaneuf of United Methodist Church of North Chili in Rochester, N.Y., made the announcement during a Nov. 23 sermon, saying his parents don’t support his transition but that he believes it’s the right thing to do. Phaneuf will now be known as Phillipa and use she/her pronouns, Fox News reported.
A Methodist pastor from Rochester, New York, shocked her congregation after publicly announcing she is a transgender woman during a service. Pastor Phil Phaneuf — now transitioning and adopting new pronouns — said her parents “do not support” her decision. pic.twitter.com/H6vYmb0BWZ
— New York Post (@nypost) December 2, 2025
“I did not get into ministry to talk about myself or my personal life, but sometimes there are things that happen in a pastor's personal life that is going to find its way out into ministry,” Phaneuf said. “And so I am inviting you to join me in a season of creative transformation for myself, and I think for all of us.
“I get to announce with joy that I'm transitioning. I'm affirming and saying to all of you that I am transgender – and so the best way to put this is that I'm not becoming a woman. I'm giving up pretending to be a man.”
Phaneuf said he describes himself as “asexual” – meaning he has no interest in romance – and has begun hormone replacement therapy.
“So what will change? My voice – it might go a tad higher,” Phaneuf said.
Phaneuf told Fox News that the church has been “overwhelmingly affirming.” The congregation’s website describes itself as a “small church in a sub-rural town.”
The United Methodist Church removed its bans on LGBT clergy and same-sex weddings in 2024. The outcome of that vote became a near-certainty after thousands of conservative churches left the denomination in recent years, frustrated by its refusal to stand firm on biblical orthodoxy. Many of those congregations joined the Global Methodist Church, a new denomination launched by conservative Methodists that affirms an orthodox view of Scripture, including on marriage and sexuality. In all, roughly one-fourth of UMC churches in the United States chose to depart.
The Global Methodist Church’s Book of Doctrines states: “We believe that human sexuality is a gift of God that is to be affirmed as it is exercised within the legal and spiritual covenant of a loving and monogamous marriage between one man and one woman (Exodus 20:14, Matthew 19:3-9, Ephesians 5:22-33). … While affirming a scriptural view of sexuality and gender, we welcome all to experience the redemptive grace of Jesus and are committed to being a safe place of refuge, hospitality, and healing for any who may have experienced brokenness in their sexual lives (Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:24, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20).”
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Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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Originally published December 03, 2025.
