Methodists Reaffirm Ban on Homosexuals in Clergy

The General Conference of the United Methodist Church voted decisively Monday to affirm its condemnation of homosexual conduct and to continue barring avowed, practicing homosexuals from the clergy.

Nearly 1,000 delegates, the governing body of the nation’s second-largest Protestant church, rejected proposed language that would have avoided a moral statement on homosexuality by noting that the Bible, Christian experience and science made “mixed” assessments of such behavior.

Then, 69% of the delegates voted to preserve the church’s 16-year-old standard, which holds that homosexual conduct is “incompatible with Christian teaching.” The only amendment adopted added that “God’s grace is available to all” and that Methodists would continue to minister to everyone.

The ban on ordination of clergy candidates who openly identify themselves as gays or lesbians was reaffirmed by 765 to 181, or 80% in favor. A lawyer-delegate from Pennsylvania suggested during the debate that many would leave the church if the barrier were lifted.

A Long-Term Debate

The 20-year-old struggle with homosexual issues within the 9.1-million-member church has been watched by religious leaders to see if an often-liberal, mainstream American denomination will decide that compassion toward homosexuals permits relaxing traditional Christian emphasis on sexual fidelity within heterosexual marriage.

No one here, however, seemed to consider the matter settled. The delegates asked that a task force be formed to study human sexuality, in particular homosexuality, and report back to the 1992 conference.

Bishop Jack M. Tuell of Los Angeles said he thought that the church “very clearly spoke its mind after a very fair and open debate.”

Nearly all the delegates from California were believed to favor a greater openness toward homosexuals in church life. After the voting, the Rev. Beverly Shamana of Inglewood blamed the results on “fear and paranoia.”

Chuck Jones, a Van Nuys layman who is also executive director of the Southern California Ecumenical Council, said: “It is extremely presumptuous of us to think that God could not call a homosexual into the ordained ministry.”

Californians Silent

No California delegate spoke during the debate, however. The most outspoken advocates of change were Midwesterners.

“Our problem is with heterosexual pastors who are . . . arrogant to the point of being unteachable, and who occasionally engage in sexual affairs with the proverbial church secretary, organist and choir director,” said the Rev. Merlin Ackerson, a district superintendent for the church in Spencer, Iowa.

Dr. Gerald Downie, a Kankakee, Ill., physician, said that his training in psychiatry was that homosexuality is a condition that can be changed in the majority of cases. He likened homosexual drives to “floodwaters” that should be contained.

After the delegates voted to retain a financial restriction on any church program that “promotes” homosexual life styles, about 50 people interrupted the proceedings by singing a hymn. More than 100 delegates and two bishops stood and joined in the singing.

A spokesman for Affirmation, a Methodist gay caucus, said his group expected the defeats Monday. By saying that God’s grace is available to all and yet declaring homosexual behavior to be un-Christian, “the church is speaking on both sides of its mouth,” the Rev. Morris Floyd, formerly of Los Angeles, said.

Homosexual Minister’s View

Floyd, who is open about his own homosexuality, is in good standing since he was ordained before the restrictions were passed in 1984. Bishop Tuell refused to assign Floyd to a local church, but three years ago, Tuell granted Floyd a special appointment to his present position as a hospital administrator in Minneapolis.

One evangelical leader said he welcomed the convention’s decision to study homosexuality. The Rev. Maxie Dunnam of Memphis, Tenn., co-author of a relatively conservative theology statement issued by 48 ministers last December in Houston, expressed confidence that the data produced by the study would confirm the Houston declaration’s assertion that active homosexuals can change their behavior even if they cannot change their sexual orientation.

Monday was the seventh day of the conference. Other matters up for approval before adjournment Friday night are an updated hymnal that attempts to minimize masculine terminology for church members and deity, and a major new statement on United Methodist beliefs.