Did methodist general conf take vote on lgbtq clergy
Summary of key decisions from the postponed 2020 General Conference
By: Christa Meland
Wondering how to condense 10 days of General Conference into a succinct report you can bring assist to members of your congregation? We have prepared a brief written summary of the key decisions.
Background info about General Conference
General Conference is The Merged Methodist Church’s superior legislative body. It typically meets every four years but was postponed in 2020, so this gathering in 2024 was actually the postponed 2020 General Conference. Each annual conference is allotted a specific number of seated/voting delegates based on its number of professing members. Minnesota has two delegates, both of whom were elected by members of the 2019 Minnesota Annual Conference Session: one clergy (Rev. Carol Zaagsma, Good Samaritan UMC in Edina and incoming assistant to the bishop for connectional ministries), and one lay person (Dave Nuckols, Minnetonka UMC). In total, there were approximately 740 delegates from 133 annual conferences. Bishops preside at General Conference but have no voice or vote.
LGBTQ+ inclusion
· The Together Methodist Church’s longtime condemHistoric day for UMC: 40-year ban on ordination of homosexual clergy is lifted
By: Christa Meland
The Merged Methodist Church made history today by removing a 40-year ban on the ordination of queer clergy.
As of May 4, 2024, the conclusion of this General Conference, the denomination’s Guide of Discipline will no longer contain a statement saying: “The United Methodist Church does not condone the apply of homosexuality and considers this habit incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore, self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.”
This change was among 23 items on today’s okay calendar, which was approved without debate. The consent calendar allows delegates to pass multiple petitions in bulk if they have overwhelming support in legislative committee and contain no budgetary or constitutional impact.
Also on the okay calendar, which was approved by a 93 percent margin, delegates voted that superintendents are not to penalize clergy or churches for holding—or refraining from holding—same-sex weddings.
Delegates and observer
General Conference: Restrictions on queer ordination, same-sex marriage removed
Photo by Larry McCormack, UM News
By Craig Taylor
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a historic move, General Conference delegates on May 1 overwhelmingly approved a change in language to the Book of Discipline removing restrictions on the ordination of openly gay clergy and also the prohibition on lgbtq+ marriages in The Joined Methodist Church.
The measures were included in the approval calendar, which was approved by delegates 692 to 51, or 93% to 7%. The changes on ordination will take impact immediately after General Conference concludes on Friday, while the changes on marriage policy permissions will start Jan. 1, 2025.
These changes reverse 40 years of United Methodist law regarding human sexuality. After the items were approved during the morning plenary session, many delegates and observers broke into applause.
“The consultation of the district superintendents and the bishop and the local church hold always been important, and that does not alter with this decision,” Kentucky Bishop Leonard Fairley emphasized on a Facebook Inhabit video posted after t
Holston delegates react after vote to change language on human sexuality
May 01, 2024 - by: AnnetteSpence
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Immediately after the General Conference vote that changed the church's language on human sexuality, the response was subdued at the tables where Holston Conference delegates were seated.
“Holston is not a very demonstrative delegation,” said Anne Travis, one of 12 voting Holston delegates. “Nobody applauded, nobody said anything.”
But then, a ripple of applause started to sound around the convention center. “I started to see people standing up, away from us, and I saw people begin to embrace,” said the Rev. Kim Goddard, delegation leader.
“We were trying to hold decorum by being on the floor,” said the Rev. Sharon Bowers, also a Holston delegate. “We heard clapping, and we were all texting, saying, ‘Is it going to go?’ And then there was an eruption.”
During the Wednesday morning plenary at Charlotte Convention Center, the General Conference of The Joined Methodist Church voted to remove sections in the Book of Discipline that prohibit persons in sam
General Conference Votes to Detach Language Prohibiting Ordination of LGBTQ Clergy
5/1/2024
Delegates hug after the 2024 United Methodist General Conference voted to remove The United Methodist Church’s prohibtion on the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals." Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.
Adapted from a story by Heather Hahn, UMNews
This morning, via consent calendar, General Conference voted to remove the language from the Novel of Discipline that prohibited the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” — a prohibition that was added in 1984.
Read a message from Bishop Robin Dease to North Georgia United Methodists.
Also on the consent calendar, delegates voted that superintendents are not to penalize clergy or churches for holding — or refraining from holding — same-sex weddings.
The legislation approved this morning explicitly protects the right of clergy and churches not to officiate at or host lgbtq+ weddings.
The consent calendar allows delegates to proceed multiple petitions in bulk if they have overwhelming support in legislative