United Methodist Church on edge of breakup over LGBT stand
Posted February 25, 2019 6:00 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) - The United Methodist Church is teetering on the brink of breakup after more than half the delegates at a national conference voted to maintain bans on same-sex weddings and ordination of gay clergy.
The preliminary vote was held Monday. If the plan is formally approved on Tuesday, it could drive supporters of LGBT inclusion to leave America's second-largest Protestant denomination.
The United Methodist Church has 12.6 million members worldwide, including nearly 7 million in the U.S.
The Rev. John Miles II, 63, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Jonesboro, Ark., poses for picture at a national conference Monday, Feb. 25, 2019, in St. Louis. Nearly 900 delegates will decide whether America's second-largest Protestant denomination will fracture due to divisions over same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBT clergy. Miles opposes efforts by progressives, saying the "core of our sexual value is heterosexual monogamy." (AP Photo/Jim Salter)
The Associated Press
Althea Spencer Miller, 63, assistant professor of New Testament at Drew University Theological School in New Jersey, and a pastor, poses for picture Monday, Feb. 25, 2019 at a national Methodist conference in St. Louis. Miller, who identifies as lesbian, said the United Methodist Church has an opportunity to show that "God's kingdom is a kingdom of such diversity" by opening the door to same-sex marriage and LGBT ministers. The potentially divisive vote will be Tuesday. (AP Photo/Jim Salter)
The Associated Press
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