United Methodist Church har under de senaste 3-4 decennierna kämpat för att finna en gemensam form för välkomna hbtq-medlemmar på lika villkor, men misslyckats. Den konservativa inomkyrkliga falangen Good News har härbärgerat motståndet.
Nu är upprördheten stor över att en pensionerad biskop, Talbert, mitt i konservativa Alabama officierat vid en vigselgudstjänst. Han är inte den förste, men säkert den tyngste prelaten.
Nyhetsbevakningen är intensiv. Och nu talas det om att dela kyrkan, eller finna former för att kasta ut dem som bryter mot kyrkans lag (BoD).
Just nu möts biskopsmötet i USA. De har lite att ta i...
Nyheter noterar:
Rev. Frank Schaefer his son to another man in 2006 and is set to stand trial before the Eastern Pennsylvania Conference on Nov. 18.
Rev. Dr. Thomas W. Ogletree, the retired dean of Yale Divinity School, officiated the wedding of his homosexual son to another man on Oct. 20, 2012.
In July 2013, more than 82 retired UMC pastors in the California-Nevada Conference agreed to perform marriage ceremonies for homosexual couples if active clergy refused.
Good News, an unofficial UMC group that opposes expanding the definition of marriage to include homosexual couples, argued that the rejection of church law displayed by many supporters of homosexual marriage has harmed the denomination and will continue to.
Good News referred to Bishop Talbert’s officiation as “an egregious act of defiance” that “flagrantly violated the covenant that binds United Methodists together.” The organization requested that the Council of Bishops “exercise discipline and hold accountable Bishop Talbert and other clergy who are flaunting our church’s policies….”
The seemingly irreconcilable differences between the supporters and opponents of homosexual marriage within the UMC make the possibility of a denominational split similar to the one experienced by the Episcopal Church in 2009 an increasingly likely possibility. If that occurs, the denomination could find itself tangled in a legal mess over pensions, church property and assets for the next decade or more.
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