Delegates to the General Conference of the United Methodist Church refused to remove from the denomination's law-book language, which states the church "does not condone the practice of homosexuality" and considers it "incompatible with Christian teaching."
However, a progressive coalition of pro-LGBT advocates and allies—despite their pain—is pushing for church reform and renewal.
"We are holding onto hope through resistance," said the Rev. Lois McCullen Parr, pastor of Chicago's Broadway United Methodist Church.
She was referring to several examples of push back.
First, on May 3, Methodist pro-LGBT activists brought conference proceedings to all stop by staging a protest demonstration.
The conference-floor demonstration came after several votes taken that morning to soften church doctrine on homosexuality failed.
Additionally, through the protest and subsequent negotiations with conference leaders to end the demonstration, pro-LGBT advocates succeed in ensuring no further measures on human sexuality would come up for consideration.
Consequently, petitions concerning bans on non-celibate clergy and same-sex marriage never came up for discussion by the nearly 1,000 delegates.
In other action, on conference closing day, May 4, a group of active and retired bishops called on Methodist clergy to marry same-sex couples "in the normal course of their pastoral duties."
In an affirmation of marriage equality, retired Bishop Melvin Talbert said the call to action was "biblical obedience."
"I stand before you here this afternoon, and I declare that God has already settled the matter: All human beings are created in his image. There are no exceptions and no exclusions. We all belong to the family of God," he said.
"At the same time, I declare to you that the derogatory language and restrictive laws in the Book of Discipline are immoral and unjust and no longer deserve our loyalty and obedience," said Talbert, according to news report published in "Neighbor News," the official publication of the Love Your Neighbor Common Witness Coalition, a coalition of seven caucuses that supports full inclusion of LGBT United Methodists.
The Book of Discipline is the United Methodist Church's law book.
It was a feeling of being dismissed that prompted the occupy conference demonstration. "We disrupted the proceedings of the General Conference and shut it down because of the perception is that we were not heard," said Parr.
"Our pain could be ignored no longer," she added, speaking by cell phone from the conference.
Parr was referring to a hurtful comment from an African delegate who compared God's creation of a homosexual person to "God creat [ ing ] [ him ] to live with animals," according to a live stream from the United Methodist Church Web page.
Made during a conference plenary session, the bestiality comparison, said Parr, was not the only hurt.
As another Methodist pastor explained, during small group conversations, earlier in the week, one LGBT delegate was told by a fellow delegate that he "really deserved to be stoned," said the Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto, pastor of San Francisco's Glide Memorial United Methodist Church.
Worse yet, the delegate who called for stoning, she said, "got so animated that the gay delegate got hit a couple of times."
"People came out of those holy conferences weeping and wailing," said Oliveto, also speaking from conference by cell phone.
Parr was not a delegate but assisted the media team of the Common Witness Coalition, which included at least half a dozen United Methodist advocacy groups that work toward a more LGBT-inclusive church within a broad justice context on issues of race, gender, global partnerships, peace, stewardship of creation, and economic justice.
Oliveto was a reserve delegate.
Every four years United Methodists gather for a meeting of the church's governing body, called General Conference, where the denomination—mainline Protestantism largest—sets church policy.
Held April 23-May 4 in Tampa, Fla., General Conference delegates defeated several petitions attempting to soften church doctrine through "agree-to-disagree" petitions ( or proposals ) . One petition, for example, called for a change in the church's law book that if passed, would have said gays and lesbians are "people of sacred worth" and the faithful differ on "whether homosexual practices [ are ] contrary to the will of God."
The measure failed by vote of 507 to 441—or a margin of 54 to 46 percent.
In another vote, delegates defeated a compromise petition acknowledging a "limited understanding" of human sexuality at the same time calling on the church to "refrain from judgment regarding homosexual persons and practices until the Spirit leads us to new insight."
That measure also failed by a vote of 572 to 368—an even wider margin of 61 to 39 percent.
General Conference plenary sessions were live streamed from Tampa, along with Facebook and Twitter feeds and other social-networking media.
The debate over homosexuality lasted about an hour.
Although denominations like the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Presbyterian Church ( USA ) , United Church of Christ and The Episcopal Church have lifted bans on out clergy, the United Methodist Church has not.
Over the last four decades, moreover, United Methodists' General Conference gatherings, have become increasingly conservative, primarily because of its growth overseas in Africa.
One estimate puts United Methodist Church membership in the United States at short of 8 million members, with membership in Africa, Europe and Asia at 4.4 million.
In fact, 40 percent of delegates to 2012 General Conference were from outside the United States.
The push for LGBT inclusion, said Oliveto, resulted in "fascinating" conversations with African delegates.
"One thing we learned is that the United Methodist Church, in evangelizing Africa, told whole groups of people their culture was wrong," she said, referring to the practice of polygamy.
"The imposing western culture said polygamy was wrong," explained Oliveto. "So now the Africans say, 'You came and taught us it was sinful but here it is in the Bible.'"
The Old Testament, or Hebrew Bible, refers to the common practice of polygamy among patriarchs.
"But now you are telling us homosexuality is okay, but here the Bible says it's sinful," she explained.
"That was a really helpful conversation," said Oliveto. "But what is lacking is an honest discussion of sexuality."
Meanwhile, in previous United Methodist general conferences, "whole coalitions would sit there as vote after vote was taken on homosexuality," she said.
"This time we shut it down," said Oliveto referring to this year's protest.
"It was very empowering, she explained. "That's how we are framing it. We will no longer allow any more harm to be done."
For her part, Broadway's pastor Parr intends to keep the congregation safe for LGBT persons. "Our Broadway witness is crucial and it can save lives," she said, reading from a letter to her congregation.
"The ministry we do together is more vital than ever, " she continued. "I suspect we will once again debate whether or not we stay affiliated with the United Methodist Church, and I understand that feeling. I ask you to breathe with me, pray with me, to hold one another in the love we know to be of God and listen to where God is leading us these days."
-Copyright. Chuck Colbert. All rights reserved.
SIDEBAR
Local Methodists not heeding anti-LGBT vote
BY KATE SOSIN
The United Methodist Church ( UMC ) may have recently voted to uphold an old rule that homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching," but for some local Methodist churches, the vote changes little.
Northern Illinois encompasses at least 30 "reconciling" congregations, or UMC congregations that welcome LGBT people. Among them are churches in heavily LGBT neighborhoods like Andersonville and Lakeview.
Representatives from reconciling churches attended the recent two-week convening of Methodist Churches in Tampa, Fla., where delegates voted against removing the anti-gay language from the Book of Discipline.
Among those in attendance was Rev. Lois Parr, Pastor at Broadway United Methodist Church in Lakeview.
Parr, like others who minister to reconciling congregations, hoped that this was the year at UMC would do-away with its anti-gay stance after other denominations have made similar strides. Reconciling ministries had been eying progress among other religious groups and within the U.S. political landscape.
"We thought, 'Okay, we'll be next," Parr said.
At last count, 503 UMC congregations in the U.S. welcome LGBT people, a divergence from the general rule, which bans UMC clergy from performing same-sex marriages or unions or allowing such ceremonies to occur in UMC buildings.
UMC holds its conference every four years, and Parr and other LGBT advocates believed that the political climate was right for change. They returned home May 7 disappointed but not deterred, she said.
"We are staying in the United Methodist Church as resisters," Parr said. "Some people would interpret what we're doing as a path to schism and other people would see it as an act of resistance."
Resistance, however, could come at a price.
"We are officially breaking the rules, and someone could file a complaint against us," said Parr. "It's a risk I'm willing to take because the gospel is calling for me into ministry with all people."
Similarly undeterred by the vote is Pastor Bonnie Beckonchrist of First United Methodist Church in Arlington Heights. Beckonchrist co-chairs the board of the Reconciling Ministries Network, an umbrella organization for welcoming UMC congregations.
Beckonchrist said that while the vote changes little for her church, she wants to send a message to the general public that many UMC churches embrace LGBT people.
"The challenge now, of course, is to be clear that we disagree with our own denomination," she said.
According to Beckonchrist, the number of UMC reconciling churches is steadily growing, especially in Northern Illinois, which saw a 25 percent jump in the last year.
At least three churches became reconciling ministries at the conference alone, and Beckonchrist said more could follow in the coming weeks.
Urban Village Church, which holds services in Andersonville, is also a reconciling ministry. Others include Euclid Avenue UMC in Oak Park, United Church of Rogers Park and Grace UMC. A full list of reconciling UMC churches in Illinois and Chicago is available at www.rmnetwork.org/get-connected/find-a-church.
