OPINION (Charisma) – This weekend, leaders of the United Methodist Church (UMC) will convene to vote on whether or not the United States’ second-largest Protestant denomination will allow same-sex marriage and ordained LGBT clergy. The vote—which is the culmination of several years of interdenominational conflict—may fracture the UMC, no matter which side wins. The UMC has remained opposed to same-sex marriage and ordaining LGBT individuals as clergy,
even as several pro-LGBT clergy members have spoken out against this policy. Official UMC policy remains unchanged since 1972 when the denomination said “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” Yet Individual churches have begun to rebel against the larger organization. The Associated Press reported that ministers have in recent years come out as gay from the pulpit or conducted same-sex marriages at UMC churches. READ MORE