General Conference Removes Many LGBTQ Restrictions in Consensus Vote

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A United Methodist Insight Exclusive

UPDATED April 20, 3:36 p.m.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The 52-year battle over the exclusion of LGBTQ+ persons from full participation in The United Methodist Church turned a major corner April 30 with a quiet vote through a parliamentary move designed to adopt measures that have broad consensus from legislative committees.

The battle isn't over yet because the source of the conflict – a section of the Social Principles holding "the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching" – remains to be succeeded by the Revised Social Principles. Five of the six petitions have been adopted through today, all on other consent calendars. The remaining petition on the Social Community has been assigned to the calendar and may be voted on as early as Wednesday, according to John Hill, interim top executive of the General Board of Church and Society.

Nonetheless, after half a century of raucous, rancorous debates, advocates for removal of restrictive language and those who've been directly affected by it were cautiously hopeful that the original source of discrimination was about to fall.

Consent Calendar A04 containing multiple petitions to remove what opponents have called "the harmful language" of LGBTQ+ discrimination was adopted Tuesday morning by a vote of 667 to 54. The vote removed many provisions of the so-called Traditional Plan adopted by the special called General Conference in 2019. Those harsher restrictions set off a wave of rebellion among U.S. annual conferences whose echoes are being heard at this General Conference.

Consent Calendar A04 as published in the Daily Christian Advocate, the official journal of General Conference, contained the following petitions that amend their cited paragraphs of the Book of Discipline:

  • Petition 20191 – Paragraph 806.9, GCFA Responsibility, strikes the language banning UMC funds from going to LGTBQ causes and replaces it with making sure that UMC fund don’t go towards causes that reject LGTBQIA+. This provision takes effect immediately upon General Conference adjournment.
  • Petition 20176 – Paragraph 304.5, Qualifications for Ordination, strikes the language added by the Traditional Plan barring district committees on ordained ministry and conference boards of ordained ministry from recommending clergy candidates that don’t meet the requirements in Paragraph 304.1-3.
  • Petition 20304 – Paragraph 415.6 strikes language prohibiting bishops from consecrating “self-avowed and practicing homosexuals" and requiring annual conference boards of ordained to examine candidates regarding their sexuality.
  • Petition 20709 – Paragraph 425, Local Discernment of Clergy Candidates, adds an option for elders who are LGTBQ+ to be appointed across annual conferences lines, when they cannot be guaranteed a safe appointment in their home conferences.
  • Petition 20387 – Paragraph 2711.3, Next Generation UMC #22 – Penalties, strikes language requiring specific minimum punishments for performing same-gender weddings.
  • Petition 20363 – Paragraph 2701, Building a Fully Inclusive Church, adds “persons with disabilities, economic conditions” to the list of items that should receive special attention regarding judicial proceedings.
  • Petitions 20360 and 20368 – Paragraphs 2701 and 2702, Moratorium on Judicial Proceedings, sets up a moratorium on all judicial proceedings concerning human sexuality by adding a new subparagraph to 2701 and adding references to 2702. These provisions go into effect immediately upon adjournment.

The petitions adopted April 30 have substantive force as church law, unlike the Social Principles, which are guiding theological concepts for Christian living.

Bridget Cabrera, executive director of Methodist Federation for Social Action, told United Methodist Insight that the adoption of multiple petitions removing restricts was "a very, very encouraging thing."

"We have been working on this for decades and decades and to see something of this momentous shift in our beloved United Methodist Church is a very, very encouraging thing," she said. "And for it to pass on the consent calendar of all things."

Cabrera said she sees the broad consensus behind the vote as a sign that the UMC has entered a new stage of its life.

"We are seeing a shift in our United Methodist Church back to who we have always been – a denomination that has had open hearts, open minds, and open doors," said Cabrera, referring to a longtime UMC slogan.

"I think what we're seeing here at this General Conference is our delegates and our church saying that we want to continue to be united and we want to go back to being the United Methodist Church that continues to welcome all the people," she said.

Cabrera said she sees the same spirit of cooperation in other legislation passed thus far, such as more inclusion for racial-ethnic church members, environmental justice and speaking out against war such as "harm against our Palestinian siblings."

For the Rev. David Meredith, a retired clergy member of the West Ohio Annual Conference, the April 30 vote means that "my church is not out to 'get' me anymore."

"It's huge," Meredith told Insight.

Meredith was the target of a church trial because he is a married gay man. At the time of the trial, he served Clinton UMC in Ohio, where parishioners consistently praised his ministry and rejected the church legal actions brought against him.

Meredith added that the removal of LGBTQ+ restrictions works in tandem with the approval of worldwide regionalization to foster "a generous acceptance."

"Removing the stuff that's really hurtful levels the playing field across all of those regions in context," he said.

"What's historic for me, both in my heart and in my experience, is I've just experienced something in United Methodist ministry that I have never, ever experienced before, and I've been to 11 general conferences," Meredith continued. "Specifically, it's that this United Methodist Church is not out to get me."

"It's not just about me, it's not about all of my friends," said Meredith. "It's about people who the church already hurt who did not live to see this day, who have left the church because they couldn't take it anymore. This is really big for us."

 United Methodist Insight Editor Cynthia B. Astle has covered The United Methodist Church at all levels since 1988. This is her 10th General Conference. Please email Insight for permission to republish this content elsewhere.