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Representatives of the 8.6 million- member United Methodist Church, America's second-largest Protestant denomination, meeting in April for their quadrennial ten-day general conference, approved new ways of doing church, supported a broader ecumenicism, agreed to evaluate the church's structure and government, and reaffirmed traditional positions on homosexuality.

Gathering in Denver under a large banner reading "In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity," 998 official voting delegates did not agree on everything, but they did remain united and surprisingly calm as committees slogged through an unprecedented 3,070 petitions.

The conferees also gave a warm welcome to First Lady Hillary Clinton, a lifelong Methodist. During a 31-minute speech, Clinton talked about the importance of personal salvation, the urgency of faith-based social action, and the uniqueness of American Methodism. "One of the reasons I'm a Methodist is because I believe disagreements are a part of life," the first lady said.

HOMOSEXUALITY DEBATE: The one issue where arguments nearly boiled over was homosexuality, a subject that United Methodists have debated at every general conference since 1972. Some Methodists had argued that they should not meet in Colorado, the state where voters passed the homosexual rights limitation measure Amendment 2 in 1992 (see related story in this issue).

In her opening episcopal address, the first such address delivered by a woman, Bishop Judith Craig called United Methodists to open the doors of the church. Days later, Craig and 14 other bishops released a statement calling for the church to ordain homosexuals.

The denomination's Council of Bishops responded by issuing a statement reaffirming the church's traditional position, found in its "Book of Discipline," that the practice of homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching."

Bishop Woodie White of Indiana, president of the bishops' council, explained that bishops do not govern the church, they serve it. "Once the church has spoken, as bishops, it is our responsibility to teach and uphold what the church has spoken," he said. "Once the general conference has said what our position is on homosexuality, then we as bishops will teach it and uphold it."

The bishops' response was greeted with relief by some, but it did not go far enough for others. The Institute on Religion and Democracy called for the resignation of the 15 dissenting bishops. And Good News, an evangelical renewal movement within the denomination, called the bishops' response "woefully inadequate," saying it "reflects an abdication of leadership on this controversial issue which is capable of dividing the church."

Delegates spent 90 minutes debating whether to delete the "incompatible with Christian teaching" phrase, a decision traditionalist David Seamands described as "an ethical continental divide." Delegates voted 60 percent to 40 percent to retain the language. When the phrase was debated at the denomination's 1992 conference, the vote was nearly a three-to-one ratio.

In addition, delegates voted to maintain the church's prohibition on the ordination of any "self-avowed practicing homosexual" and added a statement prohibiting clergy from officiating at same-sex marriagelike ceremonies.

Also, delegates reaffirmed the denomination's conditional abortion-rights stance, voted to continue its support of the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice, and defeated, by a 497-to-399 vote, a measure to add a "rights of the unborn" statement.

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June 17 1996, Vol. 40, No. 7