Delegates voted 692-51 at their General Conference.
United Methodist delegates in the US repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBT clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practising homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers.
The change does not mandate or even explicitly affirm LGBT clergy, but it means the church no longer forbids them. That measure further removes scaffolding around the various LGBT bans that have been embedded in various parts of official church law and policy. On Tuesday, delegates had begun taking steps to dismantle such policies.
About 100 LGBT people and allies gathered outside the Charlotte Convention Centre after the vote — many with rainbow-coloured scarves and umbrellas — to celebrate, pray and sing praise songs accompanied by a drum. Angie Cox, an observer at the meeting from Ohio, said she has gone before her conference’s board of ordained ministry six times but was “told no just because of the prohibition on LGBTQ clergy”.Tracy Merrick, a delegate from Pittsburgh who has advocated for LGBT inclusion at several previous conferences, said that there were “many times when I thought we would never see this day”.
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