Council of Bishops
Melvin Talbert, first United Methodist bishop to officiate same-sex wedding, dead at 89
By Adelle M. Banks — August 8, 2023
(RNS) — Talbert was recognized for his work on racial justice, LGBTQ advocacy and ecumenical cooperation.
UMC bishops request 2026 General Conference as hundreds more churches disaffiliate
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 8, 2023
CHICAGO (RNS) — To date, at least 2,804 churches have left the United Methodist Church since 2019, according to United Methodist News Service.
Bishop slams ‘negative rhetoric’ as conservative Methodists declare end to moratorium
By Emily McFarlan Miller — August 23, 2022
(RNS) — In his first presidential address as president of the United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops, Bishop Thomas Bickerton called on conservative groups encouraging churches to leave the denomination to stop the negative rhetoric.
For United Methodists, the center is not holding
By Jacob Lupfer — August 19, 2022
(RNS) — Big-tent centrists like Bishop Ken Carter have to face facts and give traditionalists a last push out.
United Methodist bishops open spring meeting with message of unity amid schism
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 25, 2022
(RNS) — More than 100 bishops from across the globe are gathering through Friday on Zoom to discuss the future of the denomination, according to the Council of Bishops.
United Methodist bishops want to let pastors, conferences decide on LGBT clergy
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 4, 2018
CHICAGO (RNS) — United Methodist bishops endorsed a plan that would allow individual pastors and regional bodies to decide whether to perform same-sex weddings and ordain or call LGBT people as clergy.
Methodist leader acknowledges struggle to maintain unity
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 17, 2016
PORTLAND, Ore. (RNS) The church faces increasing pressure in the United States to ordain LGBT clergy and allow same-sex weddings, both strongly opposed by conservatives in this country and among its growing congregations in Africa.
Methodist bishops asked to charge one of their own for performing gay wedding
By Renée K. Gadoua — November 15, 2013
(RNS) Retired Bishop Melvin Talbert, who served as the leader of United Methodists in the San Francisco area, ignored a request not to perform the ceremony. He has said in the past that the church’s position on homosexuality “is wrong and evil … it no longer calls for our obedience.”
Page 1 of 1
