The United Methodist Church is facing a potential schism in Africa, where half of its members live, due to disagreements on sexuality and theology, and some are calling for regional conferences to disaffiliate.
Another large denomination has abandoned its commitment to scriptural fidelity and caved to the whims of culture. On Wednesday, the United Methodist Church (UMC) voted overwhelmingly to lift the denominational ban on “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” serving as clergy.
After years of ideological split with conservatives, progressive Methodists
The United Methodist Church's steps toward LGBTQ inclusion may prompt its more conservative congregations to disaffiliate from the religion.
The United Methodist Church overwhelmingly voted to overturn its 40-year ban on LGBTQ clergy Wednesday. Delegates at the UMC General Conference also voted not to penalize clergy who ordain same-sex unions, effectively allowing same-sex marriage in the church. The historic move caps off a yearslong struggle to end LGBTQ discrimination within the church. Over recent years, around a quarter of UMC congregations have split from the church over its acceptance of LGBTQ rights.
“This morning I cried because a fight I’ve been in for so long found justice,” wrote one pastor.
The United Methodist Church overturned its 40-year ban on gay clergy Wednesday, during a meeting of the church’s top legislative body in Charlotte, North Carolina. The church has long been divided into factions over its stance on homosexuality and gay clergy and even weighed splitting into two separate churches over the issue, CNN previously reported. The church had maintained a ban on clergy members who were “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” since 1984, and later added performing or...
Delegates attending the General Conference in Charlotte overwhelmingly voted, without debate, to repeal the church’s ban on LGBTQ clergy.
North Texas Methodists are reacting to the news of the United Methodist Church lifting its longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy on Wednesday, a rule that forbid “se
United Methodist Church delegates gather at a conference for the first time
United Methodist delegates have repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy
United Methodist delegates have repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy. The action marked the final major repeal of a half-century’s collection of LGBTQ bans and disapprovals that were embedded in the laws and social teachings of the United Methodist Church. The 447-233 vote by the UMC’s General Conference came one day after delegates overwhelmingly voted to repeal a 52-year-old declaration that the practice of homosexuality is...