special session
United Methodist bishops cancel virtual special session of General Conference
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 22, 2021
(RNS) — The special session in May was meant to allow delegates to suspend the rules to allow the use of mail-in ballots to keep the denomination running through its postponed General Conference meeting in 2022.
Adam Hamilton on ‘Methodists in the middle’ and what’s next for the denomination
By Emily McFarlan Miller — June 4, 2019
(RNS) — As the United Methodist Church has spent decades wrestling over the inclusion of its LGBTQ members, the Rev. Adam Hamilton, pastor of the largest United Methodist church in the United States, has emerged, as one local radio station put it, as 'the Pied Piper for Methodists in the middle.'
United Methodist court upholds Traditional Plan’s ban on LGBTQ clergy, same sex marriage
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 26, 2019
CHICAGO (RNS) — Seven of the 17 petitions that made up the Traditional Plan are unconstitutional and will not be added with the others to the United Methodist Church’s rulebook.
Why United Methodists are watching the results of a denominational court meeting
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 23, 2019
CHICAGO (RNS) — What might United Methodists' top court decide this week about the Traditional Plan, and what would that mean for the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States?
Evidence of improper voting raises questions about Methodist gay clergy vote
By Jack Jenkins — March 15, 2019
(RNS) — Church officials say they are concerned about the possibility that improper votes were cast.
The ’Splainer: What happened at the United Methodist General Conference?
By Emily McFarlan Miller — March 7, 2019
(RNS) — What does the Traditional Plan actually do, and what happens now? Let us ’Splain …
United Methodists should acknowledge reality that they are no longer united
By Jacob Lupfer — February 22, 2019
(RNS) — The divide between liberals and conservatives has been baked into the UMC from its inception in 1968. It's time to let go.
Ahead of St. Louis meeting, one United Methodist offers prayers along the way
By Yonat Shimron — February 20, 2019
(RNS) — Helen Ryde decided to alleviate the tension ahead of what may be the most consequential meeting in the denomination’s history by turning the trip to Missouri into a pilgrimage.
Historic United Methodist church sees ‘hopeful’ time for LGBTQ Christians
By Emily McFarlan Miller — February 15, 2019
CHICAGO (RNS) — LGBTQ-affirming United Methodists are split over which proposed plan to support at the denomination's special session — and what they'll do if a plan passes that strengthens rules against the full inclusion of LGBTQ people.
A flourishing United Methodist church considers a way out
By Yonat Shimron — February 13, 2019
LEXINGTON, S.C. (RNS) — Mt. Horeb, a conservative evangelical church in the heart of South Carolina, is one of many congregations considering cutting the cord if the denomination relaxes its LGBT rules.
United Methodist court filings detail proposals for averting schism on sexuality
By Emily McFarlan Miller — July 18, 2018
(RNS) — Court documents are giving United Methodists the first peek at proposed plans to avoid a split in the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
United Methodist court opens door to petitions for special session on sexuality
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 25, 2018
EVANSTON, Ill. (RNS) — A decision this week by the United Methodist Church Judicial Council hints at what the denomination’s 2019 special session on sexuality will look like. And it has some worried the session could become bogged down in the same petitions and points of order it was supposed to avoid.
United Methodist activists unsatisfied with bishops’ recommended plan to avert schism
By Emily McFarlan Miller — May 14, 2018
(RNS) — United Methodists have expressed both concerns and hope after bishops endorsed a plan last week that would allow individual pastors and regional bodies to decide whether to perform same-sex weddings and ordain or call LGBT people as clergy.
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.
United Methodists to hold special session on LGBTQ inclusion in 2019
By Emily McFarlan Miller — April 25, 2017
(RNS) At last year's meeting in Portland, Ore., United Methodists voted to defer all decisions about human sexuality to a specially appointed commission and left the door open for a special session.
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