GENERAL CONFERENCE: HOW IT HAS DEALT WITH HOMOSEXUALITY

[Denver] -- Before 1972 there was no official public discussion of homosexuality by General Conference. Homosexuality was not addressed in either the Social Creed of the Methodist Church or the Social Issues and Moral Standards of the Evangelical United Brethren Church. That changed at the 1972 General Conference of the newly merged United Methodist Church.

The following statement was proposed for inclusion in the new declaration of Social Principles at the 1972 General Conference. A four year denominational study on United Methodist social principles, chaired by Bishop James S. Thomas, proposed this:

"Homosexuals no less than heterosexuals are persons of sacred worth, who need the ministry and guidance of the church in their struggles for human fulfillment, as well as the spiritual and emotional care of a fellowship which enables reconciling relationships with God, with others, and with self. Further we insist that all persons are entitled to have their human and civil rights ensured."

In the floor debate, the following phrase was added to the above statement, following the word ensured:

"although we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching."

At the 1976 General Conference, motions were made to rescind the official condemnation of homosexuality. They failed. The Conference maintained its 1972 position. Three other reports were also adopted. The first ordered

"no board agency, committee, commission or council shall give United Methodist funds to any 'gay' causes or group, or otherwise use such funds to promote the acceptance of homosexuality."

The second mandated the use of resources and funds by boards and agencies

"only in support of those programs consistent with the Social Principles of the United [Methodist] Church."

The third prohibited

"funds for projects favoring homosexual practices."

During the 1980 General Conference an effort was made to add the phrase "no self avowed practicing homosexual therefore shall be ordained or appointed in the United Methodist Church," to paragraph 404 of the Discipline. This effort failed. The General Conference noted, instead, that

"The United Methodist Church has moved away from prohibitions of specific acts, for such prohibitions can be endless. We affirm our trust in the covenant community and the process by which we ordain ministers."

The 1972 and 1976 positions remained intact.

The 1984 General Conference made no changes in the Social Principles. However, they added the following language to the Book of Discipline:

"Since the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be accepted as candidates, ordained as ministers or appointed to serve in the United Methodist Church."

At the 1988 General Conference the conference voted to continue the ban on ordination, the prohibition of church funding to "promote the acceptance of homosexuality" and the statement in the Social Principles. One change was made in the Social Principles statement. It now reads:

"Although we do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching, we affirm that God's grace is available to all. We commit ourselves to be in ministry for and with all persons."

No General Conference has ever acted to withhold membership in the church from homosexual persons. The General Conference rejected proposed legislation that would have barred lesbians and gay men from membership or lay leadership and legislation that would have made the ordination prohibition even stricter.

It was noted in the 1988 General Conference that "the interpretation of homosexuality has proved to be particularly troubling to conscientious Christians of differing opinion" and that "important biblical, theological and scientific questions related to homosexuality remain in dispute among persons of good will." The Conference mandated the General Conference on Ministries (GCOM) conduct a study that would:

a. study homosexuality as a subject for theological and ethical analysis, noting where there is consensus among biblical scholars, theologians, and ethicists and where there is not.

b. seek the best biological, psychological and sociological information and opinion on the nature of homosexuality, noting points at which there is a consensus among informed scientists and where there is not.

c. explore the implications of its study for the Social Principles.

The General Council on Ministries organized the Committee to Study Homosexuality to conduct this study and present a report [to] the GCOM prior to the 1992 General Conference.

The 1992 General Conference rejected petitions to make the prohibition of ordination more restrictive as well as petitions to make conducting "holy unions" a chargeable offense. It overcame strong pre-Conference opposition to receive the report of the Study Committee. It made that report available to local churches for study. The Study Committee proposed two possible changes to the incompatibility language of The Social Principles. Both would have acknowledged widespread differences of opinion about homosexuality. The majority report concluded that there was not sufficient ground to retain the incompatibility statement, while the minority report concluded that there was insufficient reason to remove that statement. The legislative committee rejected both of these proposals in favor of retaining current Disciplinary language. Members of the legislative committee who disagreed with that section filed a minority report that would have deleted the condemning language. The plenary discussion centered on that minority report. The vote to substitute it for the majority action of the committee was 594 to retain the Disciplinary language versus 372 to delete it, a split of 61-39%.