wfn.org | Daily Wrap-up: Delegates retain stance on homosexual issues while demonstrators express beli

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Assembly also honors ecumenical leaders, elects Judicial Council members

May 4, 2004	GC04- 070

By Linda Bloom*

PITTSBURGH (UMNS) - In vote after vote May 4, delegates to the United
Methodist General Conference retained the denomination's current positions on
homosexuality.

Although delegates voted to alter slightly the language in Paragraph 161.G of
the church's Social Principles, they still affirmed that homosexual practice
is incompatible with Christian teaching and rejected a proposed additional
sentence to the paragraph that would have read, "We recognize that Christians
disagree on the compatibility of homosexual practice with Christian
teaching." A clause was added that United Methodists "will seek to live
together in Christian community."

The Rev. Eddie Fox of Nashville, Tenn., said in a press conference after the
579-376 vote that if the church had not retained the language of Paragraph
161.G, "serious consequences could have happened (and) a possible hemorrhage
could have occurred."

But the Rev. James Preston of Rockford, Ill., declared that "hemorrhaging has
already occurred." The church did not speak the truth about itself and had a
"healing option" but chose not to use it, he said.

While delegates made a few minor adjustments, prohibitions against the
ordained ministry of self-avowed practicing homosexuals were upheld. The
language in the 2004 United Methodist Book of Discipline will now read: "The
practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore,
self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be accepted as candidates,
ordained as ministers or appointed to serve in the United Methodist Church."

Following much debate, delegates defeated a minority report that would have
given each annual or central conference - regional units of the church - the
responsibility of determining how each will approach homosexuality as it
relates to a person's fitness for ministry.

Attempts to adjust language in Paragraph 162H, which deals with equal rights
regardless of sexual orientation, were defeated by 2-1 margins. One defeated
petition suggested the addition of a sentence supporting the right of
same-gender couples to the same protections and benefits as married couples.
Another petition would have added a sentence opposing "heterosexism in all
its forms."

Speaking to the equal rights issue, Tom Wilson, a lay delegate from the
Pacific Northwest Annual (regional) Conference, voiced concern about the
treatment of gays and lesbians by the denomination. "How much longer are we
going to slam our church doors on them because of who they love?" asked the
married father of three. "We need these people to share their stories in our
homes, our churches and, yes, our pulpits."

But the barring of gays from the pulpit was reaffirmed once again by the
Judicial Council. On May 4, the church's highest court ruled that a bishop
may not appoint a pastor who has been found by a trial court to be a
"self-avowed practicing homosexual."

That decision came after the council was asked by delegates for rulings on
the application of the Book of Discipline on the ruling of the clergy trial
court in the Karen Dammann case and the "meaning, application and effect of
Paragraph 304.3" regarding appointments. 

Dammann, a clergy member of the Pacific Northwest Annual Conference, was
found not guilty in March of the charge of engaging in "practices
incompatible with Christian teaching," even though the trial jury found she
openly admitted to be a practicing homosexual.

Judicial Council did decide it had no authority to review the outcome of the
Dammann trial. The council also stated that while a bishop may not appoint a
clergy person who has been found by a trial court to be a self-avowed
practicing homosexual, "it is up to the trial court to make that
determination," the ruling continued.

Seven of nine council members issued both dissenting and concurring opinions
regarding the May 4 rulings.

In a 497-418 vote, delegates approved legislation prohibiting promotion of
the acceptance of homosexuality and added a new section to the
responsibilities of the Conference Council on Ministries in the Book of
Discipline.

Wanting to ensure that no annual conference group gives church money to
promote the acceptance of homosexuality, the delegates gave conference
treasurers and councils on finance the authority to stop such transactions.
The only exceptions to the rule are for ministries addressing HIV/AIDS or
educational events where the church's official position on homosexuality is
evident.

Before the May 4 actions were taken by General Conference, more than United
Methodists braved the near-freezing temperatures of early morning to kneel or
stand in prayer in front of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in silent
witness to their desire for inclusiveness.

"I'm here this morning trusting in God's spirit to work," said Bishop Susan
Morrison of the Albany (N.Y.) Area. "Prayer is the way to tune into the
spirit. How could I be anywhere else?"

Sue Laurie of the Reconciling Ministries Network, an unofficial advocacy
group, noted that the prohibition against ordination was not the only way to
exclude. "Many times the church says, 'Welcome, our doors are open,' but
lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people know when people don't want
their family photos in the church directory, or their flowers on the piano,
or them teaching Sunday School."

The day was not entirely consumed by legislation about sexual orientation. A
morning "Service of Christian Unity" was held before a wide array of
ecumenical guests, and two United Methodists were recognized for their
contributions to ecumenical relations.

The Rev. Bruce Robbins, who served as chief executive of the United Methodist
Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, received an award
for ecumenical witness from the denomination's Council of Bishops. A
certificate of appreciation was presented by the Commission on Christian
Unity to the Rev. Robert Edgar for his work in restoring "vitality and
visibility" to the National Council of Churches during the past four years.

In his sermon during the worship service, Bishop McKinley Young of the
African Methodist Episcopal Church told delegates that God is calling the
churches "to do together what we cannot do apart."

Young -- a prominent leader in the National Council of Churches, World
Council of Churches and World Methodist Council -- reminded the gathering
that the ecumenical movement has a collective commitment to society. "We, as
the church, must not become the hands of government but must remain the
conscience of government," he said.

In other business, delegates elected two lay and two clergy members to
eight-year terms on the nine-member Judicial Council. The election had been
delayed one day because of difficulties with electronic voting machines.

Those elected and their annual conferences are John Gray, Missouri, and Beth
Capen, New York, as lay members, and the Rev. Susan Henry-Crowe, South
Carolina, and the Rev. Dennis Blackwell, Greater New Jersey, as clergy
members.

So many people have been interested in the actions of General Conference that
its official Web site, www.gc2004.org, has been overwhelmed with hits. On May
3, a record 1,875 people simultaneously visited the site, a number that is
expected to increase before the meeting's May 7 adjournment. Staff of United
Methodist Communications has added capacity to accommodate the anticipated
usage.

# # #

*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer.

News media contact: (412) 325-6080 during General Conference, April 27-May 7.
After May 10: (615) 742-5470. 

 
 

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United Methodist News Service
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