United Methodist ministers are one step closer to freely performing gay weddings. A denomination-sponsored panel known as the Connectional Table approved the change in worldwide church rules at a meeting in Nashville held last month. The proposal also would allow for openly gay ministers.
The 26-10 vote that sends the policy change to the full General Conference put a smile on the face of retired Bishop Melvin Talbert of Hermitage. In 2013, the former civil rights leader blessed a same-sex ceremony in an act of defiance and was threatened with a church trial and losing his clergy credentials. The charges were dropped earlier this year, and Talbert says he’ll stick with the Methodist church, however the final vote turns out in May 2016.
“I’ve been asked by groups on the other side to say, ‘Well, let’s reach an amicable separation, which means that we would go our separate ways.’ And I’ve said no,” Talbert says. “I’m not going anywhere. This is my church. I’m staying, no matter what.”
A group that calls itself Good News still wants to maintain the church’s current opposition to gay marriage and openly gay ministers. If nothing else, Rev. Thomas Lambrecht argued at the recent meeting, the new policy shift has the potential to divide local churches.
“We believe this proposal that you are considering has the potential to increase conflict,” Lambrecht told the voting members of the Connectional Table.
Still others say the change doesn’t go far enough.
The proposal headed for adoption maintains the Methodist stance that homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” Rev. Amy DeLong, who is a lesbian, said the rule change is like “saying there is some level of my discrimination you all are comfortable with.”
According to United Methodist Communications, several petitions related to human sexuality are expected to go before the General Conference, which meets every four years.
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