The United Methodist Church voted on Tuesday to uphold and strengthen its ban on same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy in a move likely to alienate large numbers of followers who had pushed for reform.
By a vote of 438-384, delegates from around the world attending the church's General Conference in St. Louis reinforced a United Methodist Church policy established in 1972 stating that "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching."
Known as the Traditional Plan, the new policy includes penalties for breaking its rules and asks those who will not obey it to find another church.
The Traditional Plan is designed to serve as a coherent United Methodist Church policy on LGBT clergy and their marriage practices after years of inconsistency among individual United Methodist churches, with some churches denouncing homosexuality as a sin and others embracing gay and lesbian clergy members.
Before opting for the Traditional Plan, delegates rejected an alternative known as the One Church Plan, which would have allowed individual churches to decide whether to perform same-sex marriages and welcome gay and lesbian clergy members. Under that plan, the statement that homosexuality is at odds with Christianity would have been eliminated.
The vote roiled many in America's second-largest Protestant denomination. Tom Berlin, a delegate, told Reuters that some supporters of the One Church Plan held small protest demonstrations afterward.
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you want to be gay go be gay but don't force me to accept it. now lets worry about some important things
ReplyDeleteIf you want to be gay in church, covert to catholic if not already and become a priest
DeleteGOOD now I can go back to my church.
ReplyDeleteI thought Methodist churches support Gays ?
ReplyDeleteGet those 383 delagates OUT that voted yes.
ReplyDeleteNorthwest Woodsman: I admire people who stand up and stick by their values no matter what the opposition does or says. Kind of wish the legislator in a previous article who made the derogatory comment about the ethnic composition of Prince George’s county would have. If that is her position, stick by it.
ReplyDeleteGood, go away and do your unnatural sex stuff elsewhere. Just plain creepy and sick to think about what grown men are doing with each other sexually, Yuck!!! I threw up thinking about it!
ReplyDeleteChurches are dying all over the country because they have strayed away from the teachings of the bible. By trying to be all inclusive, they have alienated most of their core contributors and have turned people off in general to religion.
ReplyDeleteThe ELCA Lutheran Church is doing the same thing and have lost many members. I also left the church because of this.
ReplyDelete1120 then come join the Methodist church
ReplyDelete