United Methodist delegates repeal their church’s ban on its clergy celebrating same

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — `United Methodist delegates on Friday repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy and in its churches.

The action marked the final major reversal of a collection of LGBTQ bans and disapprovals that have been embedded throughout the laws and social teachings of the United Methodist Church over the previous half-century.

The 447-233 vote by the UMC’s General Conference came one day after delegates overwhelmingly voted to repeal a 52-year-old declaration that the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching” and two days after they repealed the denomination’s ban on LGBTQ clergy.

It’s the UMC’s first legislative gathering since 2019, one that featured its most progressive slate of delegates in memory following the departure of more than 7,600 mostly conservative congregations in the United States because it essentially stopped enforcing its bans on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.