Methodists Affirm Anti-Gay Position

I am so saddened by the just voted on decisions at the United Methodist General Assembly. Once again, the UM delegates, by the slimmest of margins, voted to affirm their teaching that homosexuality was incompatible with God's teaching.

Here's a summary of their decisions from the National Religious Roundtable of the NGTLF:

"In deeply paradoxical moves, the voting members of the 2008 General Conference of the United Methodist Church, meeting in Fort Worth, TX, decided to uphold language that states that homosexual practice is incompatible with Christian teaching; keep in place a ruling that allows pastors to ban lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) persons from membership even as they turned down all legislation that sought to discriminate against transgender persons, especially transgender pastors; named heterosexism and homophobia as oppression against which the church should work; and called on families and congregations not to reject their LGBT members."

In response, the Reconciling Network released this proclaimation, which said in part:

We are part of God’s living body in today’s world, but our United Methodist Church refuses to accept what God has done, refuses to keep covenant with its own words in the baptismal promise, refuses to honor God’s call to professional ministry, refuses to do no harm, refuses to open its hearts, minds, and doors.

Surely, soon the day will arrive when the churches will acknowledge sexual diversity as part of God's blessing and welcome fully all of God's children. But until that day, we must all continue to speak out for full inclusion.