{"id":1620,"date":"2012-07-19T16:19:25","date_gmt":"2012-07-19T23:19:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/gc2012\/?p=1620"},"modified":"2013-11-08T10:13:43","modified_gmt":"2013-11-08T18:13:43","slug":"conferences-reject-churchs-stance-on-gays","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/conferences-reject-churchs-stance-on-gays\/","title":{"rendered":"Conferences reject church\u2019s stance on gays"},"content":{"rendered":"

More than 500 members of the 2012 Iowa Annual (regional) Conference signed a \u201cDo No Harm\u201d covenant. Photo courtesy of the Iowa Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

A UMNS Report by Kathy L. Gilbert<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Rejecting the denomination\u2019s stance on gay rights and same-sex marriage were important issues for at least 15 United Methodist annual (regional) conferences this summer.<\/p>\n

United Methodists from Washington and the northern panhandle of Idaho<\/a><\/strong>approved legislation supporting the Marriage Equality Act.<\/p>\n

The law was signed by the governor in February and would have made Washington the seventh state to allow same-sex marriage. The law was set to go into effect June 7 but Referendum 74, an anti-gay marriage measure, got enough signatures to put the initiative on the November ballot and put the law on hold.<\/p>\n

During the June 21-24 meeting, delegates also approved a resolution to address \u201ca lack of congruence between the denomination\u2019s hardened stance against homosexuality and its historic affirmations of the rights for all people.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Rev. Sandy Brown, pastor at Seattle First United Methodist Church, said the\u00a0church\u2019s stance is \u201cwrong, stupid and evil.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

At the Iowa conference June 2-5<\/a>, more than 500 signed a \u201cDo No Harm\u201d covenant stating the denomination\u2019s top lawmaking body made decisions that violated John Wesley\u2019s first General Rule by failing to acknowledge that members of The United Methodist Church are divided on homosexuality.<\/p>\n

A second document, \u201cCovenant of Conscience,\u201d supports same-sex marriage.<\/p>\n

Members of the\u00a0Minnesota Annual (regional) Conference<\/a>, meeting May 30-June 1, voted to send a resolution opposing a proposed amendment to the Minnesota state constitution that only a union of one man and one woman will be recognized as marriage.\u00a0The proposal will be on the November ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cHundreds of thousands of current and potential United Methodists in Minnesota would benefit from equal protection of civil rights,\u201d the resolution\u2019s sponsors said.<\/p>\n

In the New York Annual (regional) Conference, some delegates were so disappointed with the church\u2019s decision not to change the Book of Discipline that they were considering a study about leaving the denomination. However,\u00a0two proposals more welcoming to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender persons were approved<\/a>\u00a0in their June 2-6 meeting in Hempstead, N.Y. One calls for a study committee for an inclusive conference and the other affirms the conference\u2019s historic commitment to the \u201crights and privileges of all persons, including LGBT persons.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The Rev. Taka Ishii, a retired pastor in the conference, said the basis of the New York petition was the amendment proposed to the 2012 General Conference by two megachurch pastors, which said the church was in disagreement over the issue of homosexuality.<\/p>\n

The United Methodist General Conference is the only entity that speaks for the church and it meets only every four years in a global gathering.<\/p>\n

The United Methodist Church amended its law book in 1972, adding the phrase \u201chomosexuality is not compatible with Christian teaching.\u201d At every global gathering since, petitions to change that statement have been offered and rejected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was disappointed that General Conference could not even agree to disagree,\u201d said Bishop John Schol in his address to the Baltimore-Washington conference. \u201cI think there is a Christ-like path that we, as The United Methodist Church, have failed to find.\u201d<\/p>\n

Differences on the \u2018right thing\u2019<\/h3>\n

The growing church in Africa had more delegates and added more voices to the 2012 gathering than previous meetings. African delegates joined with U.S. opponents to changing the church\u2019s stance.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The proposal by the Rev. Adam Hamilton, senior pastor of the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kan., and Mike Slaughter, pastor of Ginghamsburg Church, Tipp City, Ohio, was cited at several conferences as a good compromise that failed during the 2012 General Conference in Tampa, Fla., April 24-May 4.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Representatives from\u00a0Good News, an unofficial conservative caucus<\/a>, reviewing the 2012 meeting said, \u201cIt is grievous that General Conference has become a place of such pain and protest. We do not take their tears lightly. \u2026 We do not celebrate in their pain.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that same article, Good News did take issue with a\u00a0sermon from retired Bishop Melvin Talbert<\/a>\u00a0at the California-Pacific Annual Conference.<\/p>\n

Talbert, preaching the ordination sermon, recalled his own experience as a young pastor as well as the recent history of the church.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the name of Jesus Christ, I declare you to \u2018take thou authority\u2019 and \u2018do the right thing.\u2019 And remember this: You are called by God; and you are confirmed and sent by your church. There will be times when you will be called and challenged to choose between God and your church because your church does not always \u2018do the right thing.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFriends it can grow tiring to hear the news that there are actually United Methodist leaders who are actively being applauded for wanting to instigate division and discord within our church. But we need you to stand with us to do the right thing,\u201d the article concluded.<\/p>\n

California-Pacific, California-Nevada, Rocky Mountain, Desert Southwest and Oregon-Idaho conferences recommitted to their\u201cWe Will Not Be Silent\u201d resolution<\/a>\u00a0made by the Western Jurisdiction in 2000 and updated in 2004.<\/p>\n

The United Methodist Church is divided into five areas known as jurisdictions in the United States while conferences outside the U.S. are divided into similar areas known as central conferences. The seven central conferences are Africa, Central and Southern Europe, Congo, Germany, Northern Europe, Philippines and West Africa.<\/p>\n

Three conferences in the North Central Jurisdiction \u2014 Illinois Great Rivers, Northern Illinois and West Michigan \u2014 expressed sadness at the actions of the 2012 General Conference.<\/p>\n

In the Northeastern Jurisdiction, Greater New Jersey will have a conference-wide \u201cDay of Prayer & Healing\u201d on Sept. 30 for those hurt by conversations around human sexuality.<\/p>\n

The Arkansas Annual Conference in the South Central Jurisdiction committed \u201cto approach with respect and humility the differences faithful United Methodists have concerning the issue of homosexuality; and to encourage a series of sacred conversations about human sexuality, with a theologically diverse task force.\u201d<\/p>\n

*<\/em>\u00a0Gilbert is a multimedia reporter for the young adult content team at United Methodist Communications, Nashville, Tenn. Information for this report came from annual conference reports submitted by conference communicators.<\/p>\n

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or\u00a0newsdesk@umcom.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

More than 500 members of the 2012 Iowa Annual (regional) Conference signed a \u201cDo No Harm\u201d covenant. Photo courtesy of the Iowa Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church.\u00a0 A UMNS Report by Kathy L. Gilbert Rejecting the denomination\u2019s stance on gay rights and same-sex marriage were important issues for at least 15 United Methodist annual […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":1623,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1620","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-conversation"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/jpeg.jpeg?fit=812%2C480&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-q8","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1620"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1625,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1620\/revisions\/1625"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1623"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}