NY pastor announces gender transition during service with congregation: ‘Giving up pretending to be a man’

nypost.com ^ | Dec. 3, 2025 | Bonny Chu, Fox News

[V_TWIN]

A Methodist pastor in New York revealed last week plans to transition into a woman and said the 51-year-old now identifies as asexual.

Rev. Phillip Phaneuf, of North Chili United Methodist Church in Rochester, made the announcement during a Nov. 23 Sunday service.

The personal update was delivered from the pulpit while wearing a rainbow stole.

“So I get to announce with joy that I’m transitioning,” Phaneuf said. “I’m affirming to all of you that I am transgender. The best way to put this is that I’m not becoming a woman, I’m giving up pretending to be a man. This is a process, and it may be shocking for some as to what this all means.”

Phaneuf added that the pastor’s sexuality is now asexual, an orientation in which a person experiences little or no sexual attraction to others.

“I’m in the category of what they call asexual,” Phaneuf said. “I’ve been that way since we’ve all been together, in that I am not living my life in a way that involves looking for romance.”

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TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: apostate; church; transgender

[V_TWIN]

My first red flag would have been that rainbow scarf...

[blackdog]

Hey pastor, the joke is on you. We never saw you as a man. Eunich?, perhaps.

[dfwgator]

He’s pretending to be a Christian.

[delchiante]

You are not going to make me look!

I didn’t look, nor will I :)

I stopped reading at pretending to be a man, and read the warnings of do not look in the comments.

But thanks for your telling me about the scarf..

It tracks.

[Flag_This]

I feel pretty. Oh, so pretty;
I feel pretty and witty and bright.

[V_TWIN]

This is THE enemy leading people astray IMO.

-

1 Peter 5:8 NLT
[8] Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

[philman_36]

He’s pretending to be a Christian.

He's pretending to be sane.

[b4me]

did his pretending to be a man come with pretend parts he willfully used all these years? will he have them detached now? planning to keep them and add more?

[Hyman Roth]

I looked. 😩

[V_TWIN]

I warned you! 😁

[packrat35]

I was raised United Methodist, but left the church 40 years ago. This kind of stuff coming from them is not a surprise.

[catnipman]

another UMC church ready to leave the fold real soon, or a happy bunch of heathen idiots?

[packrat35]

I left a casino in Arkansas, because one of these creatures was a dealer. I moved to another table and 30 minutes later, he showed up there. I don’t want to even look at these creatures; much less be in church with one as a pastor.

[V_TWIN]

There’s a young one that works the cash register at the pet store we go to...long hair styled like a females, makeup and all the rest of it....never says a word but always has that look of “I dare you to say something”.

[WhiteHatBobby0701]

United Methodists. Exchanged truth for a lie. This is turning into fake wrestling gimmicks.

[rhoda_penmark]

Under these circumstances, I feel sure that I would have just stood up and walked out of church. What a tremendous offense on so many levels.

[Chickensoup]

He was playing to the right crowd.

[V_TWIN]

I’m thinking there were probably many red flags before this that would have made me leave.

I assume those that attend that “church” are willing participants.

[jimbug]

He needs to give up pretending to be a Christian.

[rhoda_penmark]

Boy or girl really isn’t the point. Minister’s job is to minister to others. Not to be a self-centered attention whore. Which is exactly what “trans” people are. “Me me me!”