By Heather Hahn
Without debate, General Conference has removed The United Methodist Church’s ban on the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” — a prohibition that dates to 1984.
During the morning plenary May 1, General Conference approved the change alongside 22 pieces of legislation on the consent calendar, which allows delegates to pass multiple petitions in bulk if they have overwhelming support in legislative committee and have no budgetary or constitutional impact.
The vote on the consent calendar was 692-51, with approval at 93%.
Delegates and observers applauded after the vote.
Also on the consent calendar, delegates voted that superintendents are not to penalize clergy or churches for holding— or refraining from holding — same-sex weddings.
Another change approved exhorts the Council of Bishops to be inclusive of gender, race, ethnicity, age, people with disabilities, sexual orientation and economic condition in naming representatives to ecumenical organizations .
The legislation approved on this morning’s consent calendar continues the trend of this General Conference, which is quietly reversing some of The United Methodist Church’s longtime restrictions against LGBTQ members.
On the April 30 consent calendar, General Conference removed a number of constraints on ministry with and by gay people. One of the key changes was eliminating a ban on using United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
In 2016, General Conference delegates referred to that ban in not supporting the funding of suicide prevention efforts for LGBTQ youth.
It should be noted that nothing passed by General Conference or under consideration would compel churches to receive a gay pastor. The legislation approved this morning also explicitly protects the right of clergy and churches not to officiate at or host same-sex weddings.
Retired Bishop Hope Morgan Ward — a longtime advocate for including LGBTQ people in church life — offered a prayer after the significant vote. She invited everyone to place their hands on their hearts as they remember those in their location of ministry and service.
“You every day are great, God, and every day you are working for good in the world. Stir up in us a desire to serve you, to live peacefully with our neighbors and all creation, and devote this day to your service,” she prayed.
During break, delegates and observers formed a circle of 200 to 300, clapping and singing such hymns as “Child of God” and “Draw the Circle Wide.”
Many hugged and more than a few cried, in a mass release of joy for those who had pushed, some for decades, to make The United Methodist Church fully inclusive.
The scene was a marked contrast to that of the special General Conference in St. Louis in 2019, which left progressives and many centrists in the denomination distraught at the tightening of restrictions against LGBTQ participation.
Mountain Sky Area Bishop Karen Oliveto, the denomination’s first openly gay and married bishop, was already in the ordination process when the 1984 prohibition was added.
“I have loved this church, even when it didn’t quite know how to love me back. I loved it because it was a vessel of God’s grace, in spite of its flaws,” she said. “I loved it still even when it suddenly made God’s love conditional through harmful language about LGBTQ people and the way it sought to limit our role in its life and ministry.”
She said sometimes she considered leaving but the Holy Spirit kept her in the church.
Oliveto said she is grateful to the Western Jurisdiction, which elected her bishop in 2016, and for all United Methodists who worked tirelessly for decades to help open the doors of the church to all people, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
“Today, we celebrate this historic vote,” she said. “Tomorrow, we will continue to work together. To learn from one another. To stand with one another. To continue to widen the circle so that those on the margins of church and society can find a home.”
Marilyn Murphy, an observer from the South Carolina Conference who has seen the church debate this issue for decades, said she was surprised it was embedded in the consent calendar but not surprised it passed.
“We’ve been going on like this since the ’70s and, finally, in just a brief few minutes with no debate, it was gone. And now we can get on about the business of the church.”
Virginia Lee, an observer from the Virginia Conference, shared her joy.
“It’s a great day! And that just says it all.”
It’s also a great day for the Rev. Leo Yates. May 1 is his wedding anniversary, and he and his husband received a gift today from General Conference.
An ordained deacon in The United Methodist Church, Yates serves as accessibility and inclusivity coordinator for the Baltimore-Washington Conference and as pastor at Magothy United Methodist Church of the Deaf. He is at General Conference serving as one of the Deaf interpreters for delegates and visitors.
“I feel like this is a year of jubilee,” Yates said. “This has been a long time coming. So many of us have lived under this yoke and have waited for this (ban) to be removed.”
Yates is married to the Rev. Giovanni Arroyo, who serves as top executive of the United Methodist Commission on Religion and Race and is a clergy delegate to General Conference from the Baltimore-Washington Conference.
“Of all the days for this to pass,” Yates said. “I’ll probably cry when I get back to the hotel.”
Yates said the ban was a stumbling block in his ordination process as a deacon, and to many other clergy candidates.
“We’ve lost some very good clergy people because of it,” he said. “So now, may we be more equitable and welcoming to all of us.”