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United Methodist Church’s (UMC) General Conference held in Charlotte, N.C. USA, from April 23 - May 3, 2024, has left behind ripples and discordant voices from Africa about the Church’s position on same sex marriage and the ordination of gay persons into the church’s pastoral ministry.
The reversals can be seen as marking the end of a half-century of epic battles and schisms over LGBTQ involvement — not only in the United Methodist Church but in US mainline Protestant denominations overall.
It took just a few days for United Methodist delegates to remove a half-century's worth of denominational bans on gay clergy and same-sex marriages.
At the United Methodist Church's General Conference, bans on gay clergy and same-sex marriages were removed. However, the denomination faces internal strife and declining membership.
DURHAM, N.C. (RNS) — On the first Sunday after the conclusion of the denomination’s General Conference, many queer United Methodists celebrated their release from the tight and narrow spaces that had confined them.