Methodist church regrets Ivory Coast's split from the union as lifting of LGBTQ ban roils Africa

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) — Leaders of the United Methodist Church expressed regret over last week's decision by the branch in Ivory Coast to leave the union following the church's decision to repeal a long-standing ban on LGBTQ+ clergy but pledged to accept it. The developments were...

With strawberries and goats, a ‘farmastery’ reaches out to its neighbors

HILLSBOROUGH, N.C. (RNS) — On a warm, sunny morning in farm country, a group of 40 preschoolers and their parents fanned out across several rows of crops to pluck strawberries from beneath crowns of green leaves. Later, the children sliced the berries they had gathered and added...

Defrocked in 2004 for same-sex relationship, a faithful Methodist is reinstated as pastor

Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked as a United Methodist Church pastor after telling her Philadelphia congregation that she was in a committed same-sex relationship. On Tuesday night, less than three weeks after the UMC repealed its anti-LGBTQ bans, she was reinstated. In a...

United Methodists scrap their anti-gay bans. A woman who defied them seeks reinstatement as pastor

Twenty years ago, Beth Stroud was defrocked from her beloved job as a United Methodist pastor in Philadelphia. In a church trial, she was found guilty of violating “Christian teaching” because she had acknowledged living in a committed relationship with another woman. Earlier...

A milestone reached in mainline Protestant churches' decades-old disputes over LGBTQ inclusion

The fight to allow same-sex marriage and gay clergy has defined much of the last half-century for major mainline Protestant denominations in the U.S., mirroring in many ways the broader fight for LGBTQ+ inclusion in civic life. Within these theologically moderate-to-progressive...

Methodists end anti-gay bans, closing 50 years of battles over sexuality for mainline Protestants

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — 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. But when asked at a news conference about the lightning speed of the changes, the Rev. Effie McAvoy took a...

United Methodist delegates repeal their church’s ban on its clergy celebrating same-sex marriages

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — `United Methodist delegates on Friday repealed their church’s longstanding ban on the celebrations of same-sex marriages or unions by its clergy and in its churches. The action marked the final major reversal of a collection of LGBTQ bans and disapprovals...

United Methodist delegates repeal their church’s longstanding ban on its clergy celebrating same-sex marriages

United Methodists remove anti-gay language from their official teachings on societal issues

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates on Thursday removed a 52-year-old declaration from their official social teachings that deemed “the practice of homosexuality ... incompatible with Christian teaching” — part of a wider series of historic reversals of the denomination’s...

United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — United Methodist delegates repealed their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy with no debate on Wednesday, removing a rule forbidding “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained or appointed as ministers. Delegates voted 692-51 at...