Vote delayed again, some United Methodists say they quit. Now what?
RNS Last week, when the United Methodist Church postponed – for the third time in as many years – a vote on an orderly plan to split the mainline Protestant denomination long riven by disagreement over the full inclusion of its LGBTQ members, some conservative United Methodists announced they were finally done: They would launch […]
Church schism: United Methodists would’ve met this week to consider a split. What are they doing instead?
EMILY MACFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service, reports…
Why schism? United Methodist leaders explain proposal to split the denomination
RNS The 16 United Methodist bishops and advocacy group leaders who negotiated a recent proposal to split the denomination explained their reasoning at an event held on Monday that was streamed live by United Methodist News Service. They also forecast dire consequences if the proposal, officially called “A Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation”, isn’t approved […]
In the US, UMC’s Western Jurisdiction announces “safe harbour” for LGBTQ clergy
RNS The bishops of the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church in the US have declared their churches a “safe harbour” for LGBTQ clergy. The Safe Harbor Declaration was announced Wednesday as United Methodists’ Council of Bishops wrapped up its autumn meeting in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. And it comes months before new restrictions strengthening the […]
In the US, dissent from Traditional Plan dominates United Methodists’ top court meeting
Earlier this year the United Methodist Church’s top court upheld much of the Traditional Plan strengthening the denomination’s language barring its LGBTQ members from marriage and ordination. But questions about that plan still dominated the Judicial Council meeting this past week in suburban Evanston, Illinois. “The matters before us are neither academic nor abstract. They are where […]
UNITED METHODISTS: IN KENYA, CHURCH OPPOSES ALLOWING LGBTQ CLERGY AND PRAYS FOR CHURCH UNITY WORLDWIDE
With same-sex weddings and LGBTQ clergy on the agenda at an upcoming United Methodist conference in the US, TONNY ONYULO, of Religion News Service, reports on how United Methodists in Kenya are approaching the issues…