United Methodists prepare for votes on lifting LGBTQ bans and other issues at General Conference
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates are heading into the homestretch of their first legislative gathering in five years — one that appears on track to make historic changes in lifting their church’s longstanding bans on same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy.
After a day off on Sunday, delegates to the General Conference of the United Methodist Church resumed their work Monday and will be meeting all this week before wrapping up their 11-day session on Friday
They’ve already begun making historic changes: On Thursday, delegates overwhelmingly endorsed a policy shift that would restructure the worldwide denomination into regional conferences and give the U.S. region, for the first time, the same right as international bodies to modify church rules to fit local situations.
That measure — subject to local ratification votes — is seen as a way the U.S. churches could have LGBTQ ordination and same-sex marriage while the more conservative overseas areas, particularly the large and fast-growing churches of Africa, could maintain those bans.
Related articles
Britain's new bonkers EV: Callum Skye is an £80k electric buggy built in Warwickshire
Britain has a new sports car. But it's not like anything else you've seen on the road before.Callum,2024-05-21Russia's presidential vote starts final day with accusations of Kyiv sabotage
People register to vote in Russia's presidential election in the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk on far ea2024-05-21VOX POPULI: Use of honorifics complex at times and not always appropriate
When I started out as a rookie reporter on the local police beat, I was initially addressed as “kish2024-05-21Boeing tells pilots to check seats after LATAM plane incident
By Tom Espiner, Business reporter, BBC NewsA LATAM Airlines plane landing at Auckland Airport on 132024-05-21Supreme Court rejects an appeal from a Canadian man once held at Guantanamo
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal by a Canadian-born former Guantanam2024-05-21Coronavirus China update: China's funeral homes overcrowded amid COVID
Your web browser is no longer supported. To improve your experience update it here2024-05-21
atest comment