Tag: united methodist church

Will the United Methodist Church soon have to drop the “United” part of its name?

My beloved United Methodist Church (UMC) is in the headlines again. At the same time that one clergy colleague loses his authorization to be a pastor (is defrocked!) another is celebrated for courage — both of these consequences for presiding at a ceremony celebrating the union of a gay couple.

(RNS) The resolution of the Rev. Thomas Ogletree’s case highlights an emerging dynamic that allows some pastors to skirt rules banning clergy from performing same-sex wedding, while others risk costly church trials and the loss of clergy credentials.

(RNS) The United Methodist Church’s ambivalence over homosexuality was written all over the penalty given a Pennsylvania pastor Tuesday night at a trial conducted to determine his guilt for officiating at a same-sex wedding.