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We're exploring a pivotal moment in the life of the United Methodist Church—the historic 2024 General Conference held in Charlotte, North Carolina. This conference marked a significant turning point, as 93% of the delegates voted to lift long-standing bans on the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy and the hosting of same-sex weddings by clergy and churches.
Our episode will explore the profound impact of these changes, featuring reactions from a spectrum of church leaders and participants, including the first openly gay bishop, Karen Oliveto, and voices like Bishop Kennetha Bingham-Tsai and Reverend David Meredith. Join us as we navigate through these transformative decisions, the celebrations that followed, and the renewed authenticity they bring to the church's mission of open hearts, open minds, and open doors. Whether you're a member of the United Methodist community or a seeker of spiritual understanding, this episode offers a deep dive into the intersection of faith, inclusivity, and social change.
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This episode posted on May 15, 2024
Episode Transcript:
Jessi Lipp [00:00:00]:
And so to me, this is just a reflection of the truth about the church that I've always known, that I'm a child of God, my queer friends and siblings are children of God, and that we are as much a part of the church as anyone else, that our queerness makes us a vital part of the community of Christ. And it is so beautiful to see today our church reflect and affirm and celebrate that and to be able to be with so many people who've worked so hard along the way to get us there, it's
Jessi Lipp [00:00:28]:
Oh, good. It's so good.
Ryan Dunn [00:00:30]:
That was Jesse Lipp offering some thoughts just after The United Methodist Church repealed restrictions on the full participation of the LGBTQ plus people in the leadership of the church. And that's the story that we're gonna share on this episode. This is The Compass Podcast, Finding Spirituality in the Everyday, and it's been a minute since our last full episode, so I wanted to let you know what we've been up to in Compass Podcast World. I hope you've been doing well in the meantime. My name is Ryan Dunn, and I am the chief host and producer for Compass. Compass is a production of United Methodist Communications, which is, of course, the communications agency for the worldwide United Methodist denomination. If you've heard anything about The United Methodist Church lately, it's likely been the product of the big 4 year gathering that the denomination just held in Charlotte, North Carolina. For United Methodist Communications, that was an all hands on deck event and that included me.
Ryan Dunn [00:01:33]:
So I was on-site in Charlotte for a couple weeks helping to communicate stuff on behalf of the denomination. Alright. So why would you have heard about this big gathering of The United Methodist Church? Well, the General Conference, as it's called, proposed some key changes to church law regarding the full participation of LGBTQ plus individuals and around the church in gay marriage. So in this episode of Compass, we're gonna explore some of those changes and hear some of the reactions from leaders and participants of the United Methodist General Conference. So let's start this story on the conference floor and hear what this sounded like.
Plenary speaker [00:02:17]:
The voting is now closed. May we have the results of the voting? Yes. 692 in the affirmative, 51. The affirmative hasn't and the motion is adopted.
Karen Oliveto [00:02:34]:
Our second Thank you.
Plenary speaker [00:02:41]:
Can we please hold? Please hold our excitement.
Heather Hahn [00:02:48]:
Hi. I'm Heather Hahn from United Methodist News. And what we did today was on the consent calendar, delegates without debate passed an end to a 40 year old ban on self avowed practicing homosexuals from being clergy. As I said, this started in 1984. So Today, we also passed on that same consent calendar a, passage that says we will not penalize clergy or churches from holding same sex weddings. There are many more things about same sex weddings still to come, but this is just one passage among many, and we'll keep up with it as things happen. Thanks so much.
Ryan Dunn [00:03:31]:
Let me give you a little more context around this. The general conference is a legislative body which meets once every 4 years, although the COVID pandemic interrupted that 4 year cycle. The General Conference is the only body authorized to speak on behalf of the United Methodist denomination. It is comprised of elected delegates from across United Methodism's Worldwide Connection and holds the responsibility for formulating the denomination's doctrinal statements and policies. Going back to 1972, the General Conference made the following statement on behalf of United Methodists in regards to homosexuality. Quote, we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider it incompatible with Christian teaching, end quote. The 1976 general conference added policy around these statements banning the use of church funds for supporting organizations that could be linked to promoting homosexuality, and adding language to church documents stating The United Methodist Church would not recognize marriages between same sex individuals. In 1984, the general conference banned the ordination of, quote, self avowed practicing homosexuals.
Ryan Dunn [00:04:48]:
That's what Heather Hahn was talking about. Counterproposals dating back to 1972 made it clear that the denomination was not really of one mind regarding homosexuality. At each general conference, new legislation was proposed to either soften the denominational stances or to just repeal the restrictive statements and policies altogether. By 2016, the debate had grown so consuming that the general conference actually paused all debates around homosexuality and tabled them for a special called general conference for 2019. Now, this 2019 general conference approved by a slim margin the denomination's previous stance on homosexuality and also added mandatory penalties for clergy who performed same sex weddings. So with such restrictive laws and language in place, many United Methodists felt that their tagline of open hearts, open minds, open doors sounded really nice, but it rang really hollow for a denomination that limited full participation for some people, specifically LGBTQ plus people. The 2019 general conference also added a church law allowing for congregations to exit the denomination for quote unquote reasons of conscience related again to homosexuality. Over the next several years, more than 76 100 churches left the denomination, And many of those churches left not because of the church's existing policies on same sex marriages or LGBTQ plus participation or gay clergy, they left because they felt that such policies were likely to be repealed in the near future.
Ryan Dunn [00:06:30]:
So after a delay, the general conference finally met again in 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina. And this time 93% of the delegates approved the measures to peel back those restrictions. The general conference lifted the denomination's ban on the ordination of LGBTQ plus clergy. They also removed penalties for clergy and churches hosting same sex weddings. Karen Olivetta was the 1st openly gay bishop elected in the United Methodist Church. She was actually elected well before these formal bans had been repealed, which really pointed towards where the United Methodist Church was heading long before the changes were effectively made. I was able to catch her in the hallway just after the general conference vote, repealing the restrictions, and she was gracious enough to offer this.
Karen Oliveto [00:07:24]:
So I I think what is amazing is the church that nurtured us our whole lives, who taught us about Jesus, who gave us a relationship with God and helped us experience God's grace and helped us hear the call to ministry is finally affirming us and that call. I'm seeing that the church that was so filled with grace and love be resurrected again. I'm proud to be a United Methodist today.
Ryan Dunn [00:07:52]:
Of course, there were lots of other reactions. Frederick Brewington, a delegate from New York, offered this.
David Meredith [00:07:58]:
Well, it shows what what we can do as opposed to what what we've shown in the past what we can't do. And I think at this particular point, what we've shown we can do is make our statement that we had open minds, open doors, and open hearts a reality that for so long was a mockery.
Ryan Dunn [00:08:16]:
This is Bishop Kennetha Bingham Tsai of Iowa.
Kennetha Bingham-Tsai [00:08:19]:
It has been a historic time in the life of the United Methodist Church. We have removed the harmful language from our polity, from our book of discipline as it relates to our LGBTQ community. That language has wounded souls. It is wounded souls. Today is a day of celebration. You saw the tears on people's faces because it has been decades. The other piece about this is, the vote totals were so overwhelming. The spirit of the Lord is moving within the church.
Ryan Dunn [00:08:58]:
And reverend David Meredith.
David Meredith [00:09:00]:
So I really believe that there has been, a faithful component of the United Methodist Church for its entire existence and for my entire time in it. Because that faithful portion of the United Methodist Church is the church that taught me to love Jesus. It introduced me to communion at church camp. It showed me the way into ministry. It affirmed me in ministry and gave me a place to serve.
Ryan Dunn [00:09:30]:
I wanted to include these firsthand reactions because for sure, someone is listening and struggling a bit to reconcile what they've heard is in the Bible and what was done through this last general conference. These firsthand impressions, including some quotes from LGBTQ plus clergy and leaders lend a witness to the importance of experience in regards to forming a thoughtful love, focused theology and practice of faith. I think we're going to have to do a full episode on practical theology around the divisions in Christianity regarding LGBTQ plus acceptance. For this episode, I'll offer my personal kind of witness that I have to balance Jesus's commands and teachings to consistently represent God's love on the margins. His teachings about those receiving the harshest judgments are those who build barriers around God's love, a biblical witness that notes that faith is always formed in relationship to context. And here really I'm thinking of Paul and Peter dealing with Jewish dietary restrictions. And also I hold some doubt about what exactly the quote unquote clobber passages in the Bible regarding homosexuality are speaking about in relationship to our current context. All of that in some affirms for me, a more open viewpoint.
Ryan Dunn [00:10:53]:
Anyways, the general conference action has come as relief for many though. It was noted that there were many who were affected by these decisions of previous general conferences who were unable to share in this new day for the church. By and large, the mood to end the general conference was one of relief. You heard that in some of the words that have been offered, that this denomination who professed a belief in open hearts, open minds, open doors now felt a bit more authentic to those values. It was a relief that those who had accepted a call from God towards church leadership could now really participate as their full selves. In a moment of celebration, a kind of dance party broke out towards the end of general conference, and it was healing to see a space that had a reputation for being a bit marked by frustration and strife now being a platform for invitation. Thank you for taking this journey with us on Compass. It really means so much to hear that people trust us to help inform their spiritual journeys, and it's not a role I take lightly.
Ryan Dunn [00:12:31]:
We'll be back with more in 2 weeks, and we already have a backlog of episodes queued up, including the topics of hell and salvation. We're gonna talk about establishing a personal peace of mind. We're gonna talk about practicing kindness amidst polarization with some really fantastic guests. For more information on Compass or to read about how we're rethinking church, check out unc.org/compass. Again, I'm reverend Ryan Dunn. I look forward to being with you again soon. Peace.
