Critics have also expressed concerns about Holsinger's leadership of The United Methodist Church's Judicial Council, the highest court of the Church. In 2005, the court defrocked Irene Elizabeth Stroud, an openly lesbian minister, and in a separate case reinstated a pastor who had been suspended for refusing to allow a gay man to join his congregation. However, a Judicial Council member said that the decisions should not be read as Holsinger's personal views because the council does not have the power to establish church law and lacked the discretion to rule otherwise. But, as the "New York Times" noted, "some council members opposed his views, and the bishops later rejected one decision." On October 24, 2007, Holsinger announced he would not participate in the fall Judicial Council meeting set to decide on a case involving the appointment of a transgender clergy member, which upheld the appointment. Holsinger completed his 8-year term as a Judicial Council member and his 4-year term as its president in May 2008.