United Methodists voted yesterday to uphold the denomination's anti-gay position that deems homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching," despite protests from activists, Religion News Service reports:
Two “agree to disagree” proposals were soundly defeated during separate votes by the nearly 1,000 delegates gathered for the United Methodist Church’s General Conference in Tampa, Fla. One proposal would have replaced the “incompatible” phrase in the Book of Discipline, which contains the denomination’s laws and doctrines. Both proposals sought to soften the disputed doctrine by adding more ambiguous statements about homosexuality…The proposals defeated on Thursday would have acknowledged that diversity, but, some conservatives argued, at the cost of muddying traditional doctrines."
Today, Methodist delegates are scheduled to debate the church's bans on same-sex marriage and gay clergy.
