Stances of Faiths on GLBT Issues: United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church, with an estimated 10.4 million members, welcomes gays and lesbians as church members and supports their basic human rights. However, the church prohibits ministers from blessing same-sex unions and condemns gay sex. The denomination also officially excludes gay and lesbian people from ordination, though this rule has been the subject of recent controversy.
The church has, to date, been silent on transgender members.
Rights for Gays and Lesbians
The church explicitly states that gays and lesbians are of equal sacred worth as heterosexuals and should be welcomed into United Methodist families and congregations. The UMC Book of Discipline states:
“Homosexual persons no less than heterosexual persons are individuals of sacred worth. All persons need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship that enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. … We affirm that God’s grace is available to all. We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn their lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.”
The church also supports “certain basic human rights and civil liberties” for gays and lesbians, including some limited recognition of same-sex relationships. For example, the Book of Discipline states:
“We see a clear issue of simple justice in protecting their rightful claims where they have shared material resources, pensions, guardian relationships, mutual powers of attorney, and other such lawful claims typically attendant to contractual relationships that involve shared contributions, responsibilities, and liabilities, and equal protection before the law.”
Gay Sex
The Book of Discipline condemns gay sex, stating, “We do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.”
During the church’s 2004 General Conference, gay, lesbian and bisexual rights advocates asked the church to replace the reference to “incompatibility” with an acknowledgement that many members of the church disagree about GLB issues. The conference delegates, however, voted against the change.
Blessing of Same-Sex Unions
The church forbids United Methodist ministers from performing weddings or commitment ceremonies for same-sex couples. But some United Methodist ministers have publicly performed same-sex weddings, despite the church’s regulations.
At the 2004 General Conference, the policy forbidding the blessing of same-sex unions was challenged but upheld. The conference delegates also added a line to the church’s official doctrine declaring support for “laws in civil society that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.” The delegates, however, rejected a proposal that would have expressed support for the Federal Marriage Amendment to the U.S. Constitution defining marriage as between a man and woman only.
Ordination of Gay and Lesbian Ministers
The UMC’s official doctrine bars “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from the clergy.
In December 2004, in a church court trial in Pennsylvania, the jury voted to remove the Rev. Irene Elizabeth Stroud from the ministry. Stroud had come out to her congregation more than a year earlier, saying that she lived in a “covenant relationship” with her same-sex partner. In April 2005, however, the church appeals committee overturned the decision, voting to let Stroud continue to serve as a minister.
Earlier, in March 2004, an openly lesbian pastor in Seattle, the Rev. Karen Dammann, was acquitted on charges of violating church law. Her trial and acquittal stirred up furor among UMC leaders on both sides of the issue. In May 2004, the church’s highest court, the Judicial Council, declared that bishops could not appoint ministers who had been found to be “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.” The court also said that it did not have the authority to reverse Dammann’s acquittal.
Prior to 2004, the last time a United Methodist minister had been defrocked because of his or her sexual orientation was in 1987, when a church court in New Hampshire ruled against another out lesbian, the Rev. Rose Mary Denman.
Resources for GLBT United Methodists
- Affirmation: United Methodists for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Concerns encourages more inclusive policies for GLBT people within the church.
- The Reconciling Ministries Network is a coalition of GLBT-inclusive UMC congregations and ministries that offers contact information for GLBT-friendly churches around the United States.
- The Methodist Federation for Social Action works to advance social justice policies within the church, including advocacy on behalf of GLBT people.
Headquarters Location
If you would like to communicate with the United Methodist Church in the United States, here is their mailing address:
United Methodist
Office of Public Information
810 Twelfth St. South
Nashville, TN 37203
