For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine;
but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers,
having itching ears;
2 Timothy 4:3
EXHIBIT A:"It's time," said the Rev. A. Wendy Witt during Sunday services at First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple.
Time to open the doors of the church to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, that is.
First United Methodist is one of the more than 750 congregations within the United Methodist Church that form the Reconciling Ministries Network, dedicated to including LGBT people in a denomination that bars them from ordination and does not allow its ministers to officiate same-
But this year is different, said the Rev. Gil Caldwell, who was arrested at the General Conference 16 years ago while protesting the adoption of the sexuality provisions.
"The fact that same-sex marriage is now legal in the U.S.A. ... that certainly ought to have an impact at a General Conference meeting after that fact," Caldwell said.
Church research shows 46 percent of U.S. members agree with the church's ban on same-sex marriage.
But crucially, the denomination is growing overseas and particularly in Africa, ...More than 40 percent of delegates will come to the General Conference from outside the U.S.
"There's almost no doubt that if the United Methodist Church were a U.S.-only denomination, it would be where the other U.S.-only mainline Protestant denominations are on this issue," Tooley said.
Peg Isaacson, chair of First United Methodist's Reconciling Task Force — would be happy if the denomination simply allowed individual congregations to choose for themselves how to welcome gays." Charisma
