In late February, the United Methodist Church voted to keep its ban on same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT clergy while increasing penalties for those who break the rules. Since 1972, the church's official guidelines, known as Book of Discipline, have stated that "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." Church policies bar United Methodist clergy from officiating same-sex weddings, and they forbid the ordination of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals." But for decades, there have been LGBT-affirming congregations and LGBT clergy despite these strictures. These tensions came to a head last month in St. Louis during General Conference, a gathering of the nearly 13-million-member global denomination, which is also the second largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
The General Conference was called to consider several plans meant to carve out a way forward; some proposals were crafted in an attempt to avoid a church schism over sexuality, an issue that may lead to the conservative and progressive factions going their separate ways. But as 864 delegates from around the world gathered to debate and vote on plans and petitions, the path to creating unity within the denomination narrowed as the long-standing divisions between the two sides grew.
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