Methodista gays

The church had forbidden "self-avowed homosexuals" from being ordained or appointed as clergy members. But during a national conference this week, delegates voted to overturn the ban without debate. People at the conference in North Carolina sang hymns in celebration after the vote, the church said.

United Methodist Church will allow LGBTQ clergy, after 40-year ban

Attendees also eased restrictions on gay marriage, passing a measure to prevent clergy and churches from being penalized for performing or declining to perform same-sex weddings. Conservative members and congregations have left the denomination in recent years over the issues of LGBTQ clergy and gay marriage, changing the makeup of the church and paving the way for the policy changes to receive overwhelming support.

Five years ago, church members gathered for another national meeting, or "General Conference", and strengthened restrictions on same-sex marriage and LGBTQ clergy. But conservative parts of the church felt those strengthened policies weren't being enforced and thousands of members and whole congregations left over "reasons of conscience".

The church says it has approximately 10m members worldwide, with about half in the US. It holds its General Conference every four years to review policies, budgets, and more. The pandemic, though, threw off methodista gays schedule. Skip to content. Share Save. Getty Images. Methodist Church votes to allow same-sex marriage.