delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers.— the first such legislative gathering in five years. That overwhelming margin contrasts sharply with the decades of controversy around the issue.
Also approved was a measure that forbids district superintendents — a regional administrator — from penalizing clergy for either performing a same-sex wedding or for refraining from performing one. It also forbids superintendents from forbidding or requiring a church from hosting a same-sex wedding. The changes are historic in a denomination that has debated LGBTQ issues for more than half a century at its General Conferences, which typically meet every four years. On Tuesday, delegates voted to remove mandatory penalties for conducting same-sex marriages and to remove their denomination’s bans on considering LGBTQ candidates for ministry and on funding for gay-friendly ministries.
The conference last week also approved the departure of a small group of conservative churches in the former Soviet Union.
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United Methodists Begin to Reverse Longstanding Anti-LGBTQ PoliciesUnited Methodist delegates began making historic changes in their policies on sexuality on Tuesday - voting without debate to reverse a series of anti-LGBTQ policies.The delegates voted to delete mandatory penalties for conducting same-sex marriages and to remove their...
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