Western Jurisdiction challenges homosexuality stance

The United Methodist News Service reports on four resolutions passed at the Western Jurisdictional Conference challenging The United Methodist Church stance on homosexuality.

Challenging the United Methodist stance on homosexuality, the church’s Western Jurisdictional Conference approved four statements aimed at changing denominational policies and beliefs on human sexuality.

With no debate, the legislative assembly voted July 18 in favor of resolutions that presenters said will serve as "a witness to the general church."

One resolution celebrated a May 15 ruling by the California Supreme Court clearing the way for gay marriages, which began in that state June 16. It states, in part, that the conference supports "same-gender couples who enter into the marriage covenant and encourage(s) both congregations and pastors to welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture and pastoral care for these families."

Another asks that church leaders look for "creative ways" to "be in full ministry with all who come to us" and declares an intention not to penalize clergy or churches "for being agents of this ministry in God’s name."

A third resolution challenges decisions last April by General Conference, the denomination's top legislative body, that kept intact the church’s position that homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching."

"We stand with our gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender brothers and sisters, both lay and clergy, who have been shunned by The United Methodist Church in polity and deed," the resolution states. "… As a welcoming and reconciling jurisdiction, we will take steps of inclusion in the sacred trust of marriage, ordination and leadership roles for all."

A fourth resolution affirms a statement approved by the human sexuality subcommittee of General Conference. That statement, which was not approved by the churchwide assembly, says United Methodists and other Christians "have struggled to find principles for applying traditional teachings to contemporary understandings of human sexuality." The resolution encourages "the medical, theological and social science disciplines to combine in a determined effort to understand human sexuality more completely."

As the only body that speaks for the entire church, General Conference affirmed its stance while holding that all people are "individuals of sacred worth created in the image of God." Meeting in Forth Worth, Texas, the denominational assembly also retained statements asking "families and churches not to reject or condemn lesbian and gay members and friends."

General Conference represents a worldwide denomination of 11.5 million people. Of those, 390,000 United Methodists are in the Western Jurisdiction, which covers the Western United States and some U.S. territories in the Pacific.

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Western Jurisdiction challenges homosexuality stance