church & society – homosexuality decision

I was stationed at Discipleship today but they had finished all their petitions last night. I wandered down to Church and Society which deals with more of the hot button issues. I came in as they were going through a petition to change the wording of “we do not condone homosexuality.” The petition says we disagree on this issue and cannot know God’s full truth on this matter. Therefore, we will continue to be in conversation.

One young adult delegate stood up to speak in favor of the petition. She said many young adults are not in the church because the church refuses to discuss this issue fairly.

A pastor from the Congo stood up to speak against the petition. But then at the end said he was in favor of it so it took awhile to clarify with the translator what his intent was.

They gave the group a break and then came back together to vote. Someone moved that they pray before the vote. I got goosebumps during that prayer! Never before have I been so proud to be a United Methodist. We are broken people serving a broken world. We’re trying to be as faithful as we know how to be. There are so many issues we just cannot know the truth about. So we’ll spend our lives loving all people. Intense prayer time.

They took a paper vote. And the petition was accepted 33-27!! Now it will go to the 1,000 voting members later this week.

People are saying there is a spirit of renewal at this General Conference that hasn’t been felt in a while. Such a joy to be a part of it!


Here’s the wording of the petition…

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.

CURRENT WORDING:
((The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and considers this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.))

NEW PART WOULD REPLACE PART IN PARENTHESES: While Christians of good faith are not of one mind regarding whether the practice of homosexuality is compatible with Christian teaching, we affirm that God’s grace is available to all, and we will seek to live together in Christian community.