Tears and Songs of Praise as the United Methodist Church Reverses Decades-Old Anti-LGBTQ+ Policies
AP Photo/Chris Carlson
In a series of landmark votes this week, the United Methodist Church (UMC) has reversed decades-old rules that banned LGBTQ+ clergy and condemned homosexuality as “incompatible” with church doctrine.
The votes took place at the UMC’s General Conference, which began April 23 in Charlotte, NC, bringing hundreds of international delegates to vote on proposed changes to church policies. On April 30, delegates overwhelmingly approved all items on the day’s consent calendar, including the reversal of rules that banned church funds from being used to “promote the acceptance of homosexuality.” The next day, delegates similarly approved a slate of pro-LGBTQ+ reforms and struck a 40-year ban on clergy members who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals,” UM News reported. Clergy also no longer face penalties for officiating same-sex weddings, but will also be allowed to refuse to do so.
On May 2, the conference reversed an even older rule: following a 90-minute debate, delegates voted 523-161 to eliminate the church’s stance that “the practice of homosexuality […] is incompatible with Christian teaching.” That position was adopted more than 50 years ago at the UMC’s 1972 General Conference, and has now been stricken from the church’s Social Principles, according to UM News.
Almost two-thirds of LGBTQ\+ people who were raised Christian have left, new data finds. But queer Black Americans have more to leave behind.
After each successive vote, pro-LGBTQ+ attendees reportedly wept and sang together in celebration of the reforms. “Cynics and young adults will not listen to us talk about Jesus if we say we do not condone people they love and care about,” Rev. James Howell of Western North Carolina told the Associated Press following Thursday’s vote. Iowa Conference Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai told UM News the vote was “historic,” adding, “We have finally beaten our swords into plowshares.”
The landmark votes come as a result of prolonged internal conflicts within UMC that have led to a small-scale schism, with more than 7,000 Methodist churches splitting off in the last five years. Some have gone on to reunify under the Global Methodist Church (GMC), a more conservative denomination which was founded in 2022. GMC did not directly comment on the reforms this week, only reaffirming its dedication to “upholding its denomination's strong foundation” in a statement Thursday.
Despite support from hardline fundamentalists, UMC’s anti-LGBTQ+ policies drew increasingly harsh criticism in recent years. In 2021, Indiana pastor Craig Duke was forced to leave his position in the church after he appeared on the HBO drag makeover show We’re Here, sparking widespread condemnation.
“It was an incredibly wonderful, refreshing, deepening, powerful spiritual experience,” Duke said of appearing on the show at the time. After this week’s votes, who knows — other Methodists might wind up with some new experiences of their own.
Get the best of what’s queer. Sign up for Them’s weekly newsletter here.
Originally Appeared on them.
