United Methodist Church To Debate Homosexuality At Conference

Looks like one religion may soon be shaking things up in what will be a pretty historical debate!
The United Methodist Church will tackle the highly debated issue of gay clergy and same-sex unions at this year’s General Conference!
From now until May 4, almost 1,000 delegates from all over the world will be meeting in Tampa, Florida, to discuss the topics and make some HUGE decisions.
Soon-to-be President of UMC’s Council of Bishops, Bishop Rosemarie Wenner said:

“We see it as a challenge to deal with the cultural differences, but we also see it as a gift.”

Every four years, the General Conference is held but no topic draws more controversy than the topic of homosexuality.
Perhaps the MOST controversial action made by the church was in 1972, when the Book of Discipline added in the phrase, “incompatible with Christian teaching,” in reference to homosexuality.
Currently, the church has a ban on gay clergy but a growing number of Methodists are protesting to get rid of the phrase and ban all together.
However, tackling this issue can get tricky, seeing as there are different challenges and laws in each country.
Remaining hopeful, Rev. Dean Snyder of Washington said:

“We are really praying that General Conference makes some movement. It’s going to be very disappointing if there is no movement at all.”

We are definitely interested to see what happens once this conference concludes!
We hope the church’s decision will move towards the direction of acceptance!!
[Image via AP Images.]