This
series of articles is meant to update you on the current status of the debate
within the United Methodist Church over human sexuality, specifically, the
ordination of homosexual persons and the performing of same-sex marriages. In my last article, I set three ground rules
for myself in writing these articles and for all of us in discussing them:
First, let us be upfront about our own position and do our best to understand
the positions of others and to represent them fairly. There are people we love on both sides. Second, let us stop trying to convince each
other that we are right, and they are wrong.
Instead, let us focus on the future of the church. Third, let us confine this discussion to the
United Methodist Church, and not discuss the issue as it relates to the rest of
society. I always welcome discussion on my
blog at https://pastorbrianoliver.blogspot.com/, or you can always call, write, or just talk to me in
person.
Today,
I want to briefly trace the history of the human sexuality debate within the United
Methodist Church. At General Conference
in 1972, in response to growing questions about homosexuality in the church and
in society, a statement was added to the Book
of Discipline which prohibited “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals” from
becoming members of the clergy (304.3).
Later, a paragraph stating, “Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions
shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our
churches (341.6) was added. One should
not think that these things used to be allowed and then were forbidden, rather
General Conference saw itself as clarifying what the Church had always believed
in the face of new questions.
The Book of
Discipline is the global rule book for the United Methodist Church and can
only be changed by General Conference, the official rule-making body which meets
every four years with delegates from all over the world. You
may from time to time hear that the Iowa Annual Conference, or another United
Methodist group, has voted one thing or another. Those votes and statements have no authority
whatsoever, only General Conference can make those changes.
The
church has continued to debate this issue ever since. At every General Conference, petitions have
been brought forward to remove these restrictions and, amid emotional debate
and demonstration, those petitions have failed to pass. This debate continues to divide our Church
and disrupt our ministry.
Fast
forward to General Conference 2016.
Facing yet another set of petitions to change the rules that promised to
be hotly debated and yet again defeated, delegates called upon the bishops to
form a “Commission on a Way Forward” to develop a plan to bring this decades-long
debate to an end. The Commission has
met, and continues to meet, and has published some models for the Church to
consider. We will look at those models,
and where we go from there, next time.
