Religious Left

WASHINGTON, March 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A United Methodist congregation in Washington, D.C. has vowed to celebrate same-sex weddings, putting itself at odds with other Christian churches protesting the District of Columbia's new marriage equality law. The pastor and 12 other ordained clergy who attend Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Georgetown said they would conduct such ceremonies after Congress failed to override D.C.'s new law on March 3. The larger United Methodist Church does not permit same-sex weddings, and no other Methodist congregation in Washington has taken the same step. "As a pastor, I am called to extend care and grace to all people even as Jesus did," said Rev. Mary Kay Totty, pastor at the 238-year-old church. "We celebrate love and loyalty wherever it is found." Dumbarton church's stand is poles apart from the protests by other Christian churches that same-sex marriages are against biblical teachings. Catholic Chariti...

By Sam Hodges The Dallas Morning News In a move likely to fuel controversy within the broader denomination, one United Methodist Church legislative body in California has gone on record supporting those who enter into same-sex marriage and another has commended pastors who agree to perform same-sex marriage ceremonies. A UMNS Report By Marta W. Aldrich: The church's California-Pacific Annual Conference, convening June 18-22 in Redlands, approved three measures that support same-gender couples entering into the marriage covenant. Each "encourages both congregations and pastors to welcome, embrace and provide spiritual nurture and pastoral care for these families," according to a June 27 letter to the conference from Bishop Mary Ann Swenson and other conference leaders. full article

By ANGELA K. BROWN Associated Press FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — More than 200 Methodists attended a lesbian couple's commitment ceremony Friday in defiance of a vote to uphold a church law that says gay relationships are "incompatible with Christian teaching." The ceremony was at a park across from the Fort Worth Convention Center, where some 3,000 people are meeting for the United Methodist Church's general conference. full article, including pictures

A thousand United Methodists from around the world will arrive in Texas this week to set priorities at the denomination's General Conference. Before Donna Burkhart joins them, she'll present a program in Erie about the event, at which representatives will vote on legislation for the 11-million member church. Burkhart, of Millcreek, is a reserve delegate to the conference, which other members of the church can follow online this year. Live video and audio streaming will allow people to keep up with the proceedings that start Wednesday and go through May 2, officials said. One online option, called legislation tracking, allows visitors to the conference's Web site to search for, read and follow the status of proposals. Individuals, churches and regional conferences can propose changes to church law and positions on social justice issues. This year, the delegates, who include clergy and laypeople, have more than 1,500 pieces of proposed legislation to consider. Among the famil...

By a vote of 168-10, Lane County’s largest Methodist church has joined the ranks of “reconciling” congregations that have declared themselves open to all people regardless of sexual orientation. First United Methodist Church in downtown Eugene is the ninth Methodist congregation in Oregon — and the third in Lane County — to join the movement. Not coincidentally, the church’s vote on Sunday comes a week before United Methodists from across the country will gather for the denomination’s once-every-four-years General Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. “The idea that anybody could be denied membership because of their homo­sexuality just strikes me as unjust,” Morray said. “Our ultimate goal is the removal of discriminatory language.” The local church stand is at odds with United Methodist Church law, which identifies homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching.” First United — a congregation of 600 known for its social justice outreach and distinctive church building — joins n...

After more than seven years as pastor of Union United Methodist Church in Boston’s South End, during which time he made welcoming the gay community into the life of the historically black church a significant piece of his ministry, the Rev. Martin McLee has been appointed to a new position within the United Methodist Church. When McLee arrived at Union nearly eight years ago from a Dallas church, his mission was to make Union a bridge builder in a diverse community that he perceived to have "this tribalistic understanding of life - this group here, this group [over] here." McLee became Union’s pastor just after the congregation made history by voting to become a Reconciling Congregation, meaning one that advocates for the full inclusion of LGBT people into the life of the United Methodist Church, whose official doctrine holds that homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching" and prohibits the ordination of openly gay ministers. Union was the first histor...

State Environmental Commissioner Lisa P. Jackson today withdrew a state-funded tax break for a Methodist group that refuses to allow gay couples to celebrate their civil unions at the popular beachfront pavilion in Ocean Grove. Jackson denied the Green Acres program tax exempt status the state had granted to the Methodist Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association because, she said in a letter sent to the association, "...it is clear that the Pavilion is not open to all persons on an equal basis." A lesbian couple filed a state civil rights complaint against the Camp Meeting Association earlier this year after their request to hold a civil union at the pavilion was denied. The association, in turn, filed federal civil rights suit, claiming its rights as a church would be violated if it were forced to allow civil unions, which conflict with Methodist doctrine. Garden State Equality, a gay activist organization supporting the lesbian couple, today claimed the decision as a victory th...