The United Methodist Church and Gay Marriage
by Dr. David Palmer, Senior Pastor, United Methodist Church of Kent
a document to help people understand the current position of our church
What does the recent Supreme Court decision on same-sex marriage mean for the United Methodist Church? Here is an overview of the church’s stance on homosexuality and the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision.
The United Methodist Church is shaped on this issue by three basic principles:
1) We are a Biblical church. We seek to ground our beliefs on God’s Word in the Scriptures. At the same time, we have an attitude of humility towards our own grasp of God’s Word! We realize, in the words of the apostle Paul, that we “see through a glass darkly.” (I Corinthians 13) So we are open to learning from other people’s views of God’s Word (even when they differ from our own!) and we seek to keep growing in our understanding. This leads to the next principle:
2) We are a church that respects diverse opinions. Our founder, John Wesley, once said, “Let all opinions alone on one side or the other; if your heart is as my heart – if you love God and all humanity – give me your hand.” So our church membership includes conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats, people with all different perspectives on abortion, and people with various opinions about gay marriage. We are united in our spiritual commitment to Christ, even as we have varying understandings of how to apply God’s Word to life today. The result is a church in which people with very different viewpoints can be in respectful dialogue and spiritual fellowship together.
3) We are a connectional church. Each congregation is not an independent island but is part of a larger community of churches. This is how it was in the early church! The churches described in the book of Acts were all spiritually connected as a part of a greater whole. To make decisions, the early church used councils – gatherings of representatives from across all the congregations – and we use the same process today. Every four years, United Methodist delegates from across the connection gather together in the General Conference, which seeks to discern God’s will for the present day and makes decisions that govern every local church.
On the general subject of homosexuality, the General Conferences of years past have adopted a basic position, which is set forth in our book of church rules, called The Discipline. This position governs the church today; but since we believe that our understanding of God’s truth is always partial and imperfect, United Methodists are free to disagree with the position, and the position itself could be changed by a future General Conference. The current United Methodist position, as stated In the Discipline, is as follows:
We affirm that sexuality is God’s good gift to all persons. We call everyone to responsible stewardship of this sacred gift.
Although all persons are sexual beings whether or not they are married, sexual relations are affirmed only with the covenant of monogamous, heterosexual marriage.
We affirm that all persons are individuals of sacred worth, created in the image of God. All persons need the ministry 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.
The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching. Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches.
We affirm that God’s grace is available to all. We will seek to live together in Christian community, welcoming, forgiving, and loving one another, as Christ has loved and accepted us. We implore families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons.
[United Methodist Book of Discipline, 2012]
At every General Conference in recent years, there have been proposals to change this statement to a stance that would affirm same-sex marriage along with heterosexual marriage. The General Conference has voted, by a narrow margin, to retain the present stance. The issue will surely be at the forefront once again when the General Conference meets in the spring of 2016. (Our East Ohio Conference elected its delegates this June).
The overall configuration of the General Conference is shaped by the fact that we are a global church (which distinguishes United Methodists from most other American Protestant churches). At the next General Conference, the representation of delegates will be as follows:
USA 58%
Africa 30%
Philippines 6%
Europe 5%
South America 1%
This has significant implications for the gay marriage issue. Our African United Methodists tend to be conservative on the issue. Their vote has tipped the scales in each of the recent General Conference votes. At the past two General Conferences, the vote to retain the present language on homosexuality has prevailed by a margin of approximately 55-45%.
So what does the future hold, and what is the present impact of the Supreme Court decision? In light of the principles outlined above, we can say the following:
1) Although the Supreme Court has made same-sex marriage legal across the United States, the decision as to whether or not to perform a particular wedding is left entirely to church leaders. Since we are a connectional church, we are governed on this issue by the rules of the Discipline as established by General Conference. Since those rules stipulate that “ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches,” there will be no gay weddings in our church.
2) We will continue to be a church with very diverse opinions, and we will continue to be one of the few churches in America in which people with sharply divergent views are equally accepted and can be in fellowship and positive dialogue with one another.
3) The General Conference will continue to debate and vote on this issue.
4) We will continue to welcome all people, since God’s grace extends to everyone!
For more information regarding the United Methodist Church’s stance on the Supreme Court’s decision regarding gay marriage, click here.
Click here to view a statement by our bishop, John L. Hopkins.