May 22, 2000
Methodists retain prohibitions on gays
___CLEVELAND (RNS)--In a major setback for pro-gay activists, the United Methodist Church voted decisively May 11 to retain policies prohibiting homosexuals from ordination, banning same-sex union ceremonies and describing homosexuality as "incompatible with Christian teaching."
___The votes all carried by 2-to-1 ratios, and the results were expected. The votes were overshadowed by an emotional protest that brought the denomination's top decision-making body to a standstill and resulted in arrests of at least 27 people, including two church bishops.
___During two emotionally wrenching sessions, more than 200 activists disrupted the meeting by storming the convention floor and circling the auditorium to protest the votes.
___When delegates voted to prohibit same-sex unions, more than two dozen protesters blocked the stage of the auditorium and vowed not to leave unless they were arrested. Police officers led them offstage without handcuffs.
___Randy Miller, a gay California layman, spoke for the protest group and said the church had broken its covenant with homosexuals.
___"Neither height nor depth nor legislation of this church will deprive us of the love of Jesus Christ," Miller said.
___The votes and the demonstration brought many delegates to tears.
___At the height of the morning demonstration, a woman threatened to jump from the arena's balcony but was held back by others. "I am gay, I have been gay all my life and I love God," the woman said before attempting to jump.
___The United Methodist Church--the nation's second-largest Protestant body with 8.4 million members--has become ground zero in the battle for more inclusion of gays in church life since the General Conference last met in 1996. Because of a series of seemingly contradictory rulings on same-sex union ceremonies, pro-gay activists had hoped this meeting would bring a change in policy.
___One of the church's most divisive statements calls the practice of homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching" and has served to mold the church's doctrine on such related issues as ordination and same-sex unions. Delegates voted 628-337 to retain the statement.
___On the issue of prohibiting the ordination of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals," delegates voted 640-317 to uphold the ban. After delegates had voted to continue the "incompatibility" language, many said lifting the ordination ban would be inconsistent.
___"We are a people ... who want the church to be a place where all are welcome and where grace abounds," said Mark Fenstermacher of Elkhart, Ind. "But while we are a people of grace, we are also a people of (biblical) truth."
___Delegates voted 646-294 to keep the ban on same-sex unions and also defeated a motion that would have changed the wording of the prohibition from "shall not" to "should not."
___The protests and the three votes left many unsure of the future of the denomination, which meets again in 2004.
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