Methodists Vote To Retain Policies on Homosexuali... | Christianity Today

The United Methodist Church held to its traditional rules on homosexuality Wednesday (April 30), refusing to support or celebrate same-sex unions and maintaining language that calls homosexual activity "incompatible with Christian teaching."

While many Methodists gathered here acknowledged sharp disagreement within their church on sexuality and biblical interpretation, delegates voted down efforts that would reflect that division in church rules or social policies.

A measure to remove the "incompatible" phrase and replace it with a mandate to "refrain from judgment regarding homosexual persons and practices as the Spirit leads us to new insight" was defeated 517 to 416.

Nearly 1,000 delegates here at the quadrennial General Conference spent almost all day debating Methodist policies on homosexuality, continuing a sometimes contentious discussion the church has held for almost 40 years.

Many Methodists rose to speak in favor of a clear continuation of traditional teachings, especially for the purpose of evangelizing to a world that they said is beset by moral confusion.

"Friends, this is serious business," said the Rev. H. Eddie Fox, director of evangelism for the World Methodist Council. "It is an urgent matter for our church. It matters what we believe and what we practice and we do not meet here in isolation."

Indeed, several delegates warned that actions taken here directly affect Methodists in Africa and Asia, many of whom are conservative and whose churches are experiencing explosive growth. About 30 percent of the 11.5 million-member church now lives outside the U.S.

The resolution calling for the church to refrain from judgment until a wider consensus is reached offered more than an opportunity to recognize differences of opinion in the divided church, said Will Green, a lay delegate from New England.

"It also allows gay and lesbian people like myself to stay in the church in a safe way that doesn't cause us to be sacrificed for the sake of church unity," he said.

Earlier in the day, a solid majority — more than 65 percent — rejected an attempt to change the church's constitution, the Book of Discipline, to recognize same-sex civil unions.

The ban "reflects the sentiment of most (church) members and the majority of citizens in the U.S. and many other countries," said the committee that handled the resolution. "Sanctioning homosexual unions would give the church's approval to homosexual behavior and relationships, which would be inconsistent" with church teaching.

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Delegates also refused to commit to support civil unions in wider society. They did agree to open educational opportunities to all persons regardless of sexual orientation.

And, after an emotional debate, a slim majority of Methodists agreed to strengthen the church's advocacy against sexism by "opposing all forms of violence or discrimination based on gender, gender identity, sexual practice, or sexual orientation."

The measure also commits the church's General Board of Church and Society to develop resources and materials for local churches to fight homophobia.

Two clergy delegates from the Democratic Republic of the Congo forcefully spoke out against the anti-homophobia resolution.

Speaking in French with the aid of a translator, one pastor said that it's "very sad that the Methodist Church continues to advocate for things that come from the devil. … It is time for us as church to get on our knees and proclaim that we have made a mistake."

But Judy Stevens, a delegate from New York, said, "It's time for us to stand together with people who, although their orientation may be different from ours, still need to be protected from violent actions that are brought upon them on the basis of who they are."

And Denny Coon of Iowa said that it's possible to oppose homosexuality while supporting the anti-homophobia resolution. "This petition helps open up the church and let folks know they have nothing to fear," he said.

Frederick Brewington, chair of the convention's "church and society" committee, which studied and amended the sexuality resolutions before they were debated by the full assembly, said, "We are not at a place where we agree."

"We are at a time in history where we understand we are in many places," he said. Later he called the decades-long debate "festering sores on the body of the church."

Methodists' disagreements over homosexuality mirror regional and generational divisions in the U.S. Slightly more than half of Methodist clergy and laity "agree somewhat" with their church's refusal to condone homosexual acts, according to a "state of the church" report issued last year. But a significant minority — 30 percent of clergy, and 28 percent of laity — "disagree strongly" with the church's position on homosexuality.

U.S. vs. the world?

Sexual ethics is one of the key areas at the center of an intense debate about exactly the United Methodist Church can reflect its increasingly international family.

While Methodist congregations shrink in the U.S., they're booming in Africa and Asia — 30 percent of the 11.5 million-member church now lives outside the U.S. Liberia has 168,000 Methodists; including its president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (who spoke Tuesday night at the convention). Earlier this week delegates formally received Liberia's West African neighbor, Cote d'Ivoire, into the church. With 700,000 members, it's now the church's largest regional conference.

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More than 275 of the nearly 1,000 delegates gathered here to draw up church policy are from Africa, an increase of 100 from the last General Conference in 2004.

Still, Methodists have yet to decide how to fully reflect their diversity in church governance. On Monday, delegates considered a plan that might have given more influence to churches in Africa, Asia and Europe. They voted to study the matter further and report back in 2012.

The meeting here also reflects a wider struggle for the soul of America's mainline churches, as conservatives and liberals increasingly cross national and hemispheric lines in search of allies.

Liberal Methodists here say a conservative coalition also crossed ethical lines last week when they handed out more than 200 free cell phones to delegates from Africa and the Philippines. The giveaway sparked charges of racism, neo-colonialism, and old-fashioned graft. Supporters of the giveaway said it was a form of hospitality, since most overseas delegates' phones would not work in the U.S.

Conservative activist Mark Tooley of UMAction, a member of the coalition, called the cell phone brouhaha "very silly" and said that other church groups traditionally hand out items at the General Conference.

"I think a number of liberals are uncomfortable with the African church because they realize the African church is in a very different place from them and it's the only significantly growing part of the church," he said.

But the Rev. Troy Plummer of the gay-friendly Reconciling Ministries Network says there's more to the cell phone giveaway. He noted that the fliers advertising the giveaway called on delegates to elect a slate of conservative candidates to the Methodist Judicial Council — the church's supreme court.

"I think what it reflects is the crass manipulation of people to forward your own political agenda," Plummer said.

On Monday, those candidates lost. Delegates elected church moderates and liberals instead.