The UMC, a global church, prides itself on its democratic and decentralized polity. All this shapes its response to LGBTQ couples and clergy.
LGBTQ clergy
The UMC's response to declining membership is to spend millions deciding who else we can exclude.
Theresa F. Latini led an organization that taught that sexuality could be changed. She now rejects that—but students, faculty, and alumni charged her and the board with keeping that fact secret.
A 32-member commission is seeking a way forward for a denomination with a lesbian bishop—and a policy barring ordained LGBTQ people.
United Methodists have been down this road before. What's different this time is that Karen Oliveto is already a bishop.
A global denomination, a clash of principles, and the coming reckoning
How will the ELCA hold gay pastors who aren't married accountable to the standard of monogamy and lifelong commitment? Do same-sex couples have to prove what is taken for granted with married heterosexual couples?