April 29, 2009
Methodist Clergy Forbidden to Preside Over Any Gay Unions
Steve Weinstein READ TIME: 1 MIN.
United Methodist clergy cannot perform same-sex marriages or gay civil unions, even if their regional church district supports the idea, the denomination's high court ruled.
The Judicial Council said that a church district, or annual conference, cannot "negate, ignore or violate" churchwide discipline, even if they disagree with the policy.
Last year, the top church legislative body, or General Conference, voted to retain its ban on same-sex marriages and bar clergy from performing the ceremonies or consecrating same-gender unions in the church. Pastors who violate the discipline risk losing their clergy credentials.
The council decision, released Monday after a court meeting in Denver, came in the case of two regional Methodist groups that had issued resolutions supporting clergy who perform same-gender marriages.
The California-Nevada Annual Conference had backed retired pastors who perform the ceremonies. The California-Pacific Conference had recognized "the pastoral need and prophetic authority of our clergy and congregations to offer the ministry of marriage ceremonies for same-gender couples."
The state Supreme Court in California had approved gay marriage last year, but voters reinstated a ban on same-gender marriage last November through the Proposition 8 ballot measure.
Steve Weinstein has been a regular correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the Advocate, the Village Voice and Out. He has been covering the AIDS crisis since the early '80s, when he began his career. He is the author of "The Q Guide to Fire Island" (Alyson, 2007).
