Local gay marriage clergy
Delegates Remove Ban on LGBTQ Clergy, Same-Sex Weddings by Consensus Vote
A United Methodist Insight Exclusive
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The afternoon for which LGBTQ Merged Methodists and their allies have worked for 40 years arrived on May 1 when the postponed 2020 General Conference overwhelmingly removed the ban on ordaining "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals" as clergy.
Delegates also removed a forbid on United Methodist clergy performing marriages for homosexual couples, which is legal in the United States and other countries where United Methodists are located.
The vote was 692 for and 51 against to approve the consent calendar containing the petitions.
No Combined Methodist church will be forced to accept an LGBTQ pastor or to perform same-gender weddings.
Gone from United Methodist law is Paragraph 304.3, which read: "While persons set apart by the Church for ordained ministry are subject to all the frailties of the human condition and the pressures of society, they are required to maintain the highest standards of holy living in the world. The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore s
United Methodist Church Keeps Exclude On Same-Sex Weddings, LGBTQ Clergy
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With Meghna Chakrabarti
The United Methodist Church votes to maintain a ban on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage. Is a schism inevitable? We put that to a roundtable of Methodist voices.
Guests
Rev. Rachel Cornwell, ordained elder in the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the Merged Methodist Church. Part of the extended clergy team at Foundry United Methodist. (@rachcornwell)
Rev. Tom Lambrecht, ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He submitted the legislation maintaining the denomination’s rules against LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriages. Vice president and general manager of the Methodist magazine "Good News." (@revtlambrecht)
Brett Krutzsch, religion professor at Haverford College focusing on sexuality, race and LGBTQ history. (@BrettKrutzsch)
From The Reading List
Washington Post: "Reeling from contentious LGBT vote, some Methodists pledge to fight while others mull leaving" — "Dumbarton United Methodist Church is the oldest Combined Methodist congregation in Washington, D.C., dating almost 200 years
Church Removes Ban on Queer Marriage
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By Fred Koenig with reporting from Heather Hahn, UM NewsDuring the afternoon session of the General Conference’s terminal day on May 3, delegates approved four changes to church law that together end remaining bans related to homosexuality and protect the rights of pastors to choose which weddings to perform or not to perform.
With the day’s actions, the delegates removed decades of additions to the Guide of Discipline, the denomination’s policy book, creating restrictions explicitly aimed at LGBTQ people.
Previously, the General Conference removed a longtime ban on “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy, eliminated a half-century-old statement against homosexuality and opened the door to accepting marriage between two consenting adults.
By a vote of 447 to 233, delegates struck down a ban, added by the 1996 General Conference, that prohibited clergy from officiating and churches from hosting “homosexual unions.”
In other actions:
- By a vote of 544 to 121, delegates approved a change to the requirements that clergy rehearse “celibacy&
A House Divided: Clergy, Conscience, and Same-Sex Marriage
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by Ryan Burge - Feb 20, 2025
I have held the title of ‘pastor’ for basically half of my experience. Three years as a youth minister, my first stint as the senior pastor lasted just a year, and then I took over the pulpit of First Baptist Church of Mount Vernon, Illinois. I preached my first sermon there at 24 and when we finally closed our doors, I was 42. I have a great affinity for pastors. We almost have a “brother in arms” vibe when we get together. People who have served in vocational ministry share this bond that’s hard to describe. I’m not speaking at them, I’m speaking with them. It’s one of my favorite audiences, honestly.
They often ask me questions about how other pastors are trying to navigate their jobs and what the data is telling me about the role of the clergy in a rapidly secularizing society. These are excellent questions but it's not that easy to acknowledge them because there is a real dearth of survey data that focuses specifically on clergy. But there are a several datasets that I contain found really helpful. One is the National Survey of Religious Leaders, which was fie
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