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Jun 1, 2006 7:08 pm US/Central
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Methodists Approve Gay Clergy, Marriage
St. Cloud, Minn. (AP) ―
Delegates to the annual state convention of the United Methodist Church voted Thursday to urge the national church to support the ordination of gay clergy and gay marriage.
Nine petitions on gay-rights issues were approved by a majority of delegates at the convention, said Victoria Rebeck, communications director for the Minnesota Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.
About 500 lay people and an equal number of clergy are attending the conference, which wraps up Friday.
"The biggest news is that we had a good, respectful discussion of these very emotional issues and people really listened to each other," Rebeck said.
The Minnesota decisions are recommendations to the national denomination, which will decide whether to go along with the recommendations at its General Conference in 2008.
The closest vote, 358-356, came on a petition to change language about marriage from "a man and a woman" to "two adult persons," and to delete a sentence supporting laws that define marriage as between a man and a woman.
Bishop Sally Dyck, who presided over the discussion, said delegates approached the issues "as Christians in the best sense of that word -- loving and humble, trying to be careful with each other."
The Rev. Carl Caskey of Northfield, part of a caucus of retired clergy advocating for change, said, "We think the future is with us" in the push for greater acceptance of gays.
"Many of us are greatly concerned about the direction the (denomination) has taken toward exclusion," he said. "We'll keep putting the pressure on."
The Rev. Phil Strom of Elk River United Methodist Church has argued that homosexual behavior is sinful. He said both sides "feel grief and sadness, because the vote reminds us of how deep this division is, how irreconcilable."
The Rev. Dan Johnson of Good Samaritan United Methodist Church in Edina said, "The half-dozen biblical references to homosexuality do not reflect what we understand today about loving relationships. This is an identity, not a sin."
The Rev. David E. Brown of St. Croix Valley United Methodist Church said does not believe the denomination will follow in Minnesota's footsteps.
As a lifelong Minnesotan and United Methodist, The Rev. Daren Flinck of Grace United Methodist in Fergus Falls said he "suddenly feels like an alien in my own land."
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)