The 2024 General Conference of the United Methodist Church removed traditional language from the United Methodist Discipline which had historically forbidden United Methodist pastors or churches from hosting or participating in the celebration of same sex marriages. Also removed were the historical prohibition against the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy. The removal of this language shifted policy around these issues to the local church level. Our church has been involved in a discernment process around these two questions.
We communicated our discernment plan to the congregation through two letters, which you may view below:
Response to General Conference 2024
About the Upcoming Congregational Meetings
Our first Meeting was held on August 10, 2024, and was attended by 102 members of the church family. At that meeting, we addressed the subject of church values. Those gathered brainstormed and listed four key values that we felt were most important to our congregation: Community Service, Inclusivity, Ministry to Youth and Children, and Unity. The Leadership team of the church received those values and the questions regarding same-sex marriages and homosexual clergy and fashioned a congregational survey to help the leadership team understand the conscience of our congregation.
The result of the survey were shared at a congregational meeting on September 14. Our next step is a discussion at the September 30 meeting of the Administrative Council of the church to set our church’s policies on these issues, followed by a general letter to the congregation.
The documents from that meeting are linked below: