“In this moment, we have fresh opportunities for healing in the church and the world. Persons who believe they are divinely called to vocational ministry will now receive the due consideration of their call due to them,” said Bishop Gregory V. Palmer of the West Ohio Conference of the United Methodist. The West Ohio Conference covers more than 50 Ohio counties in western and southern Ohio.
Past General Conferences of the United Methodist Church had steadily reinforced the ban and related penalties amid debate and protests, but many of the conservatives who had previously upheld the ban have left the denomination in recent years.
There were 80 churches in the West Ohio Conference that disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church in 2022. Last June, the West Ohio Conference voted to allow disaffiliation for another 172 congregations, out of about 961 congregations in Western Ohio. This was followed by another 96 churches disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church during a special session of the West Ohio Annual Conference in late October held at Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City.
The United Methodist Church saw the peak of church disaffiliations last year, according to the United Methodist News service, following a church law that became effective in 2019 and expired at the end of 2023.
The rule, referred to within the United Methodist Church as the “Disaffiliation of Local Churches Over Issues Related to Human Sexuality,” allowed congregations to leave the denomination but still maintain ownership of their church property. They had to meet certain conditions, including a two-thirds majority vote of the members of the congregation.
Many of the departing churches are joining the conservative Global Methodist Church, created last year. Other congregations have chosen to remain independent or join different denominations. Global Methodist Church doctrine states that human sexuality “is a gift of God” and should be exercised as “a loving and monogamous marriage between one man and one woman.”
Others have said the split between factions of Methodists was about more than issues related to human sexuality.
Other theologies and business practices of the church, such as church fees being higher than what they wanted, were involved in the decision making, according to John S. A. Lomperis, United Methodist director at the Institute on Religion and Democracy, an ecumenical think tank that is separate from the United Methodist Church.
Others, including Palmer, said discussions on disaffiliation last year centered on human sexuality.
This week’s change to permit LGBTQ clergy doesn’t mandate or even explicitly affirm LGBTQ clergy, but it means the United Methodist Church no longer forbids them. It’s possible that the change will mainly apply to U.S. churches, since United Methodist bodies in other countries, such as in Africa, have the right to impose the rules for their own regions. The measure takes effect immediately upon the conclusion of General Conference, scheduled for Friday.
The consensus was so overwhelming that it was rolled into a “consent calendar,” a package of normally non-controversial measures.
“It seemed like such a simple vote, but it carried so much weight and power, as 50 years of restricting the Holy Spirit’s call on people’s lives has been lifted,” said Bishop Karen Oliveto, the first openly lesbian bishop in the United Methodist Church.
“People can live fully into their call without fear,” said Oliveto, of the Mountain Sky Episcopal Area, which includes Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming. “The church we’ve loved has found a home for us.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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