August 20, 1998 (David W. Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061-0368, fbns@wayoflife.org) - On August 11 the United Methodist Church's (UMC) judicial council voted to ban same-sex marriages and said ministers who performed such ceremonies could be disciplined ("Methodists Officially Ban Same-sex Unions," Associated Press, August 12, 1998). The new "church canon" states: "Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches."

The issue was brought to the fore last year when conservatives within the denomination pressured for charges to be brought against a United Methodist pastor who performed a lesbian wedding ceremony. The pastor, Jimmy Creech, of the 1,900-member First United Methodist Church of Omaha, Nebraska, was acquitted of the charge. At the time, the denominational rule against performing homosexual weddings was in the form of a guideline within the "Social Principles," which has less authority than a church canon.

DENOMINATIONAL POLITICS

I am glad to see an official ruling against homosexual marriages by a denomination, but we also realize that the ruling does not mean as much as it might appear. Denominational organizations are notorious for their politics. Their public statements are frequently ignored on a practical level. National level statements are frequently ignored on a local level. This is precisely what is happening within the United Methodist Church. Many of their congregations welcome unrepentant homosexual members who practice this abomination in their daily lives. At least two United Methodist congregations in Dallas, Texas, fall into their category. The Northhaven United Methodist Church has a congregation which is one-third homosexual. The Webb Chapel United Methodist Church, pastored by a woman, also welcomes homosexuals.

The UMC formally states that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching and in 1984 voted to prohibit ordination of self-avowed, practicing homosexuals. As soon as the prohibition against homosexual ordinations went into effect, though, UMC bishops ordained sodomites in Colorado and California. The New York UMC Conference passed a resolution which said, "We deeply regret our denomination's continued oppression of homosexual persons ... We look forward to the day when the church will accept gay and lesbian persons into full fellowship." Retiring UMC bishop Melvin Wheatley spoke to a body of the Metropolitan Community Churches (MCC) in Sacramento, California, in 1985, and said the MCC is "wonderful because you are mixing the gay and Christian experience." The MCC is a homosexual denomination. Wheatly said in 1983, "I clearly do not believe that homosexuality is a sin. ... Homosexuality, quite like heterosexuality, is neither a virtue nor an accomplishment. It is a mysterious gift of God's grace ... His or her homosexuality is a gift--neither a virtue nor a sin." Many United Methodist churches have performed wedding ceremonies for homosexuals, and a number of homosexuals have been ordained to the ministry in the UMC. James Conn, pastor of a UMC congregation in Ocean Park, Calif., said, "The gospel as I understand it is about the quality of the relationship, whether it is a homosexual or heterosexual one." Ignacio Castuera of Hollywood First Methodist Church said the church is under a moral obligation to bless gay requests for marriage ceremonies. In 1992 the UMC Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns declared itself open to the full participation of all people, including gays and lesbians, and the top judicial body of the UMC ruled that the agency was within its rights to make such a declaration. When Melvin Talbert was ordained head bishop for Northern California and Nevada in 1988, he stated: "I do not believe we know enough about homosexuality to make hard and fast rules. I would have hoped we could be more open and compassionate to people of different sexual orientations. I come with no prejudgments." Also in 1988 the California Methodist Conference sponsored an "enrichment weekend" for homosexual couples.

Homosexuality is not the only moral perversion condoned in UMC circles. The UMC communications agency in 1988 issued a statement on "erotica" which approved of sexually explicit pornography as long as it was not violent or coercive!