The Uned Methodist Church recently strengthened s ban on openly gay clergy and same-sex marriag.
Contents:
- A GAY PASTOR EXPLAS WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY SAYS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALY
- 3 GAY PASTORS AMONG NOME FOR BISHOP
- IS BIBLILLY ALLOWABLE FOR A PASTOR TO BE GAY?
- GEIA MEGACHURCH PASTOR REVEALS HE'S GAY
- FIVE EVANGELIL PASTORS WHO BACK GAY MARRIAGE
- GAY BLACK PASTORS REVEAL 'DOWN LOW' LIFTYL ON NEW 'IYANLA: FIX MY LIFE'
- REFLECTNS OM A CLOSETED GAY PASTOR
- FIRST OPENLY GAY MISTER TO BE ORDAED BY PRBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA) TOMORROW
- HOW A GAY ST. LOUIS PASTOR TRIGGERED A WAR WH THE PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI
- PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI LEARS SAY THOSE WHO INTIFY AS GAY ARE NOT QUALIFIED FOR ORDATN
- 500 CLERGY SUPPORT GAY UNED METHODIST CLERGY WHO ME OUT
- UNED METHODIST CHURCH MOV TO ALLOW LGBT CLERGY AND GAY MARRIAGE
- “I’M THE GAY PASTOR OF THE GAY CHURCH”
- 10 MOST WILDLY ANTI-GAY PREACHERS AMERI
- BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
- THE FORT OF RAMBOUILLET HAS BEEN HIDG THE SECRET FOR 33 YEARS: WHO KILLED JOSEPH DOUCé, THE GAY PASTOR ON FILE?
- LGBTQ UNED METHODIST LEARS GUTTED BY CHURCH'S ANTI-GAY CISN
- TEXAS PASTOR SAYS GAY PEOPLE SHOULD BE 'SHOT THE BACK OF THE HEAD' SHOCKG SERMON
- UNED METHODIST CHURCH ANNOUNC PROPOSAL TO SPL OVER GAY MARRIAGE
- PREACHER ASKS GOD TO KILL GAY PEOPLE IN “SLOW, PAFUL DEATH”
A GAY PASTOR EXPLAS WHAT THE BIBLE REALLY SAYS ABOUT HOMOSEXUALY
David Gura speaks wh Rev. Kimberly Stt about last week's meetg of the Uned Methodist Church's Council of Bishops and s impedg vote on whether to orda gay pastors. * gay pastors *
And then the other part was always send-gusg myself - whether or not I was supposed to be open about my sexual orientatn, whether or not I was supposed to play the game of don't ask, don't Jt so that I'm clear, is the church's official stance on homosexualy today ambiguo or is pretty clearly fed and you'd like to see changed?
S., church have gone beyond what the Book of Disciple says to make the church open and accsible to gay and lbian clergy like Do you know other pastors who aren't as open as you or haven't been able to be as open as you - have ma this choice to keep this important si of their liv quiet or secret om their ngregatns?
3 GAY PASTORS AMONG NOME FOR BISHOP
Unfundamentalist Christians founr John Shore recently shared a letter om a gay Christian who is stgglg wh his sexualy and fah. Among the many enuragg ments on that post was one om a gay pastor who betifully explaed his unrstandg of the Bible, Christiany, and sexualy. * gay pastors *
Among the many enuragg ments on that post was one om a gay pastor who betifully explaed his unrstandg of the Bible, Christiany, and pastor gracly agreed to let me share his ment as blog post here.
IS BIBLILLY ALLOWABLE FOR A PASTOR TO BE GAY?
Two openly gay pastors om the Wtern Jurisdictn and a third om the North Central Jurisdictn have been nomated for electn as Uned Methodist bishops. * gay pastors *
“To elect a self-avowed practicg homosexual as bishop would ph many tradnalists over the edge of what they uld tolerate, jeopardizg the uny and the fundg of the nomatn, ” Lambrecht said. So may be biblilly allowable for a pastor to nsir himself gay—that is, he stggl wh homosexual attractn—if he is mted to sexual pury, never acts on those sir, and never enurag anyone else to do so (see Romans 1:32). 2, 2010— -- The pastor of a Geia megachurch wh thoands of followers, who was twice married and is a father of four, is speakg out about his recent cisn to publicly clare he is gay.
I want to tell you that is not, " Jim Swilley said a vio shot the nonnomatnal megachuch Swilley found 25 years Swilley said g out was a cisn he's stggled wh sce childhood, he ma the announcement last month not for personal reasons -- he said he hop to save 52-year-old founr of Church the Now Conyers, Ga., said he's g out to help stem the recent ti of gay suicis Ameri and won't be swayed by some hateful msag that have been wrten about him onle. "Officials, Celebri Jo 'It Gets Better'Three weeks later, a cy uncil meetg Fort Worth, Texas, gay cy uncilman Joel Burns was moved to share his own emotnal story about how close he me to killg himself at age 13. If you said someone was evangelil you knew pretty much what you were gettg – errancy of the Bible, importance of preachg, a foc on evangelism, warngs of hell and most of all – opposn to gay marriage.
GEIA MEGACHURCH PASTOR REVEALS HE'S GAY
Is biblilly allowable for a pastor to be gay? Do beg gay disqualify a man om servg as a pastor? * gay pastors *
While still far om the mastream and the overwhelmg majory of self-scribed evangelils are still opposed to gay marriage, there are a growg list of pastors who scribe themselv as evangelil and yet support same sex upl. 'It has taken untls hours of prayer, study, nversatn and emotnal turmoil to brg me to the place where I am fally ready to ll for the full acceptance of Christian gay upl to the Church, ' he wrote.
Several of Jen Hatmaker's books have been produced by LifeWay's B&H Publishg, who announced they would no longer work wh her after she changed her stance on gay marriageFacebook / Jen Hatmaker. In an terview wh Relign News Service she said: 'From a spirual perspective, sce gay marriage is legal all 50 stat, our muni have plenty of gay upl who, jt like the rt of , need marriage support and parentg help and Christian muny.
FIVE EVANGELIL PASTORS WHO BACK GAY MARRIAGE
The pastor of an Atlanta megachurch wh thoands of followers, who was twice married and is a father of four, is speakg out about his recent cisn to publicly clare he is gay. * gay pastors *
Two gay pastors, who for years have been keepg their homosexualy secret, will reveal their “down low” liftyl to their fai and ngregatns an emotnal three-part seri premiere of OWN’s Iyanla: Fix My Life, which kicks off on Saturday. Vios: The Gay Pastor Wele YouTube channel offers 150+ vio clips of 12 gay pastors answerg up to 20 qutns about their experience arrivg on scene after beg hired by a church that never had an out gay pastor before. Gays started g phras like “g out of the closet” the 1960’s, the same when I was figurg out that I had this huge problem that I did not want, did not unrstand, and that I had no one wh whom to talk over.
The other people who really know me are my therapist – an atheist who saved my life --, iends a lol artistic muny where I have found some solace wrg fictn, my doctor, and a gay man my age who got divorced om his wife of almost forty years.
Thirty years ago, when pastors my nomatn first began to separate to acuntabily groups, admtg to beg gay – even if I had no sful gay act to nfs – would have end my reer and would not have remaed secret. He will bee the first openly gay mister ordaed by the Prbyterian Church (USA) sce the nomatn amend s nstutn this year to elimate official barriers to the ordatn of people based on their sexual orientatn.
GAY BLACK PASTORS REVEAL 'DOWN LOW' LIFTYL ON NEW 'IYANLA: FIX MY LIFE'
I’m a closeted gay man. When I first typed that sentence, felt good. The more I looked at on my screen, the ls good felt. I want the urage to lete the word “closeted” and to not nfe my claratn to wrten words that will never be attributed to me by name. I’m a closeted gay man, but of a different sort. I’m attracted to other men – always have been – but * gay pastors *
“So much of my work wh the Shower of Stol Project volv holdg my hands every day symbols of loss — loss of mistry, loss of votn, loss of llg, ” says David Lohman, fah work ordator at the Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force. But before leavg the church, she wanted to do somethg symbolic to show that she was only one of untls lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr (LGBT) people servg the church silence bee the st of livg thentic, open liv was too high. His current scholarship teas out the terplay of relign, sexualy, and palism artifacts of popular and queer culture, and his earlier scholarly work examed the activist histori of gay and lbian Catholics durg the early years of the AIDS epimic.
REFLECTNS OM A CLOSETED GAY PASTOR
The Natnal Gay and Lbian Task Force applds the historic ordatn of Stt Anrson set for tomorrow Madison, Wis. He will bee the first * gay pastors *
Greg Johnson scrib himself as a “gay atheist teenager” who fell for J — and found himself at the center of evangelil Christiany’s ternal battl over nearly 20 years, Johnson has pastored Memorial Prbyterian Church St.
FIRST OPENLY GAY MISTER TO BE ORDAED BY PRBYTERIAN CHURCH (USA) TOMORROW
For nearly 20 years, Greg Johnson has served as a pastor to the ngregatn of Memorial Prbyterian Church St. Louis, which is part of the Prbyterian Church Ameri. Last year, the PCA attempted to ban clergy for intifyg as gay. * gay pastors *
When he me out to his church, he said he received a standg ovatn and shouts of “We love you, Greg” om sce Johnson went public wh his orientatn Christiany Today, pastors his nomatn, the Prbyterian Church Ameri, have tried to banish clergy who intify as gay, even if they m to celibacy. (RNS) — Pastors and church lears the Prbyterian Church Ameri passed an overture at s General Assembly this week sayg those who intify as gay are not qualified for ordatn the nservative Prbyterian nomatn.
The overture clus any inty Christians may profs “that unrm or ntradicts their inty as new creatns Christ, ” though sgl out “gay Christian, ” “same sex attracted Christian” and “homosexual Christian” among those inti. Those who profs an inty (such as, but not limed to, ‘gay Christian, ’ ‘same sex attracted Christian, ’ ‘homosexual Christian, ’ or like terms) that unrm or ntradicts their inty as new creatns Christ, eher by nyg the sfulns of fallen sir (such as, but not limed to, same sex attractn), or by nyg the realy and hope of progrsive sanctifitn, or by failg to pursue Spir-empowered victory over their sful temptatns, clatns, and actns are not qualified for ordaed office.
HOW A GAY ST. LOUIS PASTOR TRIGGERED A WAR WH THE PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI
(RNS) — Stt Barber, chair of the Overtur Commtee, told the elrs votg on the overture that s tent is not to exclu Christians who are gay but rema celibate. Still, that’s not the way many opponents of the overture received s approval. * gay pastors *
The pastor pots a fger at the ex-gay movement and nversn therapy, which, while wily discreded the mental health field, he said ntu to shape many evangelils’ beliefs about and expectatns of LGBTQ people.
While affirmg belief that persons of homosexual orientatn are persons of sacred worth who need the mistry and guidance of the church, the statement add that the church “do not ndone the practice of homosexualy and nsirs this practice patible wh Christian teachg.
One was to clare an abeyance (lay) on submtg or procsg plats related to homosexualy until after a procs for separatn had been approved and the nomatns that may rult om uld hold their first post-separatn General Conferenc. The agreement about abeyance, though, beme effective immediately among s signers, and many other bishops the Uned Stat have likewise agreed to hold homosexualy-related plats agast clergy abeyance until after a post-separatn Uned Methodist General Conference 2028 term what new polici, if any, will be.
PRBYTERIAN CHURCH AMERI LEARS SAY THOSE WHO INTIFY AS GAY ARE NOT QUALIFIED FOR ORDATN
Rachel Waltner Goossen People intifyg as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer have long faced stigmatizatn and discrimatn many North Amerin Mennone church and stutns. But durg the past , two parallel nomatns, Mennone Church USA and Mennone Church Canada, have been movg sporadilly but irrefutably toward polici of clivens.1 The rise of LGBTQ… * gay pastors *
(November 13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an Amerin mister and civil rights attorney who served as pastor of the Wtboro Baptist Church and beme known for his extreme views on homosexualy and protts near the funerals of gay people, ary veterans, and disaster victims who he believed were killed as a rult of God punishg the U. This is bee the nversn therapy ban is hateful and harmful to Christians and homosexual and transgenr nversn therapy ban penaliz people who want to save others om the penalty of we should all be grateful for the pastors, pecially Canadian pastors who love homosexual and transgenr people enough to preach on biblil sexualy today — pecially sce that act of love has bee a ntroversial and possibly a crimal act this morng.
A letter om 500 openly LGBTQ clergy, future pastors and fah lear a number of different nomatns offered “much love and light” to the 111 Uned Methodist clergy and ndidat who me out as gay on May 9. “Though we e om different tradns, you are our fay Christ and our siblgs the mon stggle to live fully and thentilly to our God-given inti and llgs, ” stat the letter posted on the webse Believe Out Loud, an onle muny that empowers Christians to work for lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer or qutng (LGBTQ) equaly.
While many sectors wh the broar Anabaptist landspe—not only North Ameri, but worldwi—ntue to ny lls for equy and jtice, queer lears are phg Mennone bodi to make history, dismantlg discrimatn agast LGBTQ-intified members and nontg the ss of homophobia. Signifint scholarship clus Roberta Showalter Kreir, From Wound Hearts: Fah Stori of Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenred People and Those Who Love Them(Gahersburg, MD: Chi Rho Prs, 1998); Together Love: Fah Stori of Gay, Lbian, Bisexual and Transgenr Coupl (Kulpsville, PA: Strategic Prs, 2002); The Cost of Tth: Fah Stori of Mennone and Brethren Lears and Those Who Might Have Been (Kulpsville, PA: Strategic Prs, 2004); Alicia Dueck, Negotiatg Sexual Inti: Lbian, Gay, and Queer Perspectiv on Beg Mennone (Zurich: LVerlag, 2012); Stephanie Krehbiel, “Pacifist Battlegrounds: Vlence, Communy, and the Stggle for LGBTQ Jtice the Mennone Church USA, ” Ph.
500 CLERGY SUPPORT GAY UNED METHODIST CLERGY WHO ME OUT
A mtee wh the Uned Methodist Church has affirmed a proposal on acceptg LGBT clergy and gay marriage. Ron Cogswell/Flickr Gay clergy and same-sex marriage may be allowed at Uned Methodist Church thanks to a proposal drafted by the Connectnal Table, a rpected ternatnal body of clergy members and lay people the church. On Tuday, the mtee * gay pastors *
Richard Lichty, An Increase Time: Story L of Germantown Mennone Church and Its Historic Tst, 1683-2005 (Elkhart, IN: Instute of Mennone Studi, 2015), and an acunt of Hyattsville Mennone Church’s relatnship to Allegheny Mennone Conference Emma Green, “Gay and Mennone, ” The Atlantic, 18 March 2015,. On the historic first licensg of an openly queer lear Mennone Church USA, see “Theda Good, Lbian Mennone Mister, Licensed Denver, a First Step Towards Gay Ordatn, ” Huffgton Post, 4 Febary 2014,. Gay clergy and same-sex marriage may be allowed at Uned Methodist Church thanks to a proposal drafted by the Connectnal Table, a rpected ternatnal body of clergy members and lay people the church.
UNED METHODIST CHURCH MOV TO ALLOW LGBT CLERGY AND GAY MARRIAGE
While many black pastors nmn homosexualy om the pulp, the choir lofts behd them are often filled wh gay sgers and micians. The fact that gays and lbians often hold learship posn the church is the worst kept secret black Ameri. * gay pastors *
On Tuday, the mtee affirmed the proposal to remove church legislatn that punish clergy for beg “self-avowed practicg homosexuals” or officiatg gay weddgs, the Uned Methodist Church News Service reported. Louie Gigl beg removed om givg the benedictn at the Ingural addrs over his past anti-gay ments serv to remd everyone that gay bashg is still a favore past-time certa evangelil Christian to anti-gay pastors specifilly, there are those wh feelgs of hate and those wh somethg so far off the wall that you wonr if supernatural mon posssn is to blame. ” Addnally, he flted this "unnatural behavr" wh spreadg disease and nfg children about proper genr pro-gay groups and supporters submted a petn llg for him to apologize and take his post down, Gipson ignored them and doubled down.
“I’M THE GAY PASTOR OF THE GAY CHURCH”
* gay pastors *
When he’s really hont, he’s quick to remd you that gays are g after your children and your grandchildren and sexually transmted diseas are God’s punishment for ’s not jt a Christian though, he’s also a patrt. ” Yup, that’ll teach ‘em, pecially bee nothg says “my son is gay” like a limp d of his sermon leaked onle, Fahful Ameri gathered 10, 000 signatur om people pletely appalled by Harris’ statements.
The lear of the famo Wtboro Baptist Church regularly pickets ary funerals, polil ralli, and gay pri gathergs to spread the msage that the bloodshed Iraq and Afghanistan is God’s punishment for toleratg gays. No stranger to ntroversy, the host of the 700 Club has done some outrageo thgs on his show like enuragg a father to seek anti-gay nversn therapy for his gay son, as well as pare gay marriage wh polygamy, btialy, and pedophilia. The virtuosy of gay sgers, micians and posers has been the drivg force velopg popular gospel choirs — even chart-toppg, Grammy-wng acts — that make money for a church, help expand ngregatns and raise the profil of pastors.
Bishop Yvette Flunr of Oakland, Calif., is openly gay and the founr of The Fellowship, an anizatn of black pastors and church openly welg of lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr members. He says his church also has ntued to support gay members who have ntracted HIV/AIDS, unlike some other church that ostracize them — a practice many people on both sis of the issue say has been mon. " Gospel mic superstar and megachurch pastor Donnie McClurk shocked the non-gospel world years ago by revealg a 2001 book that God "livered" him om a gay "liftyle" that he said was a rult of beg sexually abed as a boy.
10 MOST WILDLY ANTI-GAY PREACHERS AMERI
A Texas baptist church — labeled an "anti-LGBT hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center — has ed outrage after a pastor said gay people should be "l * gay pastors *
Our "Crim the Heart of Summer" seriThe serter disguised and killed by his wifeGe Barthélémy, the former mayor of Putex assassatedThe murr of Joseph Doucé, the gay pastorCl Lasten, killer of old ladi (to be published July 28)The murr of Gill Andet, chs champn (to be published on Augt 4)This article was produced wh the help of RetroNews, the BnF's prs mystery of Pastor Doucé, or how a news em beme a matter of state.
BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
The Southern Baptist Conventn, the largt Prottant nomatn the Uned Stat, wh over 16 ln members, has discrimated agast gay and lbian people for more than a quarter-century. * gay pastors *
He, and untls others, had prevly hoped that a vote durg a special ssn of the UMC’s general nference last month would change the urse of the church’s relatnship wh lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and queer vote, however, not only strengthened the church’s ban on openly gay clergy and same-sex marriag, but also creased penalti for future vlatns. Oliveto is the Methodist church's first openly gay Sangosti / The Denver Post via Getty Imag fileBishop Karen Oliveto, the first openly gay bishop the history of the UMC, se the general nference vote as not ditive of the valu of the church. A Texas baptist church — labeled an "anti-LGBT hate group" by the Southern Poverty Law Center — has ed outrage after a pastor said gay people should be "led up agast the wall and shot the back of the head.
THE FORT OF RAMBOUILLET HAS BEEN HIDG THE SECRET FOR 33 YEARS: WHO KILLED JOSEPH DOUCé, THE GAY PASTOR ON FILE?
The Evangelil Lutheran Church Ameri, wh approximately 5 ln members, has passed repeated rolutns to wele gay and lbian people sce 1991. * gay pastors *
""I’m not sayg that every sgle homosexual that’s alive right now has mted that act wh a child already bee uld be they haven’t had the opportuny yet and they will at some pot later their life, " he said. " He says the plan don't acknowledge the historil legacy of homophobia the church, though he poted to the plan's allotment of $39 ln over four years to "support muni historilly margalized by the s of racism" as a step toward such an acknowledgement. In a 1996 “Rolutn on a Christian Rponse to Homosexualy, ” the SBC clared that “even a sire to engage a homosexual relatnship is always sful, impure, gradg, shameful, unnatural, cent and perverted.
LGBTQ UNED METHODIST LEARS GUTTED BY CHURCH'S ANTI-GAY CISN
The Uned Methodist Church, wh an timated 10.4 ln members, has current polici that are strongly agast the LGBTQ muny. However, many church lears, cludg lol pastors, wele gays and lbians as church members and support their basic human rights. * gay pastors *
In the 2000 Baptist Fah and Msage statement, the SBC equat "homosexualy" wh adultery and pornography, clarg, “In the spir of Christ, Christians should oppose … all forms of sexual immoraly, cludg adultery, homosexualy and pornography.
It lled on "Southern Baptists not only to stand agast same-sex unns but to monstrate our love for those practicg homosexualy by sharg wh them the fivg and transformg power of the gospel of J Christ (1 Corthians 6:9-11).
In June 2010, a rolutn (On Homosexualy and the Uned Stat Milary) passed that stat: “we oppose changg current law to normalize the open prence of homosexuals the armed forc, and sist on keepg the fdg of Congrs that stas current law, which stat that even ‘the prence the armed forc’ of persons monstratg ‘a propensy or tent to engage homosexual acts’ creat ‘an unacceptable risk to... In 1991, the Churchwi Assembly passed a rolutn statg that, "Gay and lbian people, as dividuals created by God, are wele to participate fully the life of the ngregatns of the Evangelil Lutheran Church Ameri. The church’s 2016 Book of Disciple regniz the “sacred worth” of all persons but also stat that "the practice of homosexualy is patible wh Christian teachg" and bans fancial support of LGBTQ-based groups.
TEXAS PASTOR SAYS GAY PEOPLE SHOULD BE 'SHOT THE BACK OF THE HEAD' SHOCKG SERMON
Affirmatn: Uned Methodists for Lbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgenr Concerns is an anizatn that challeng The Uned Methodist Church to be clive, and radilly speaks out agast jtice for LGBTQ people around the Rencilg Mistri Network is a growg movement of Uned Methodist dividuals, ngregatns, mp mistri, and other groups workg for the full participatn of all people The Uned Methodist Church. Comg Home to Evangelilism and to Self [Gui]Comg Out for Christians, a webse that facilat a grac and Godly atmosphere for those who are g out as gay or lbian to their fai, iends, and/or church. A fundamentalist pastor gave a sermon which he prayed for “every homo that exists” to suffer “a slow, paful ath” — ntug a trend which he and other right-wg pastors fixate on gay people when rantg about s and remptn.
UNED METHODIST CHURCH ANNOUNC PROPOSAL TO SPL OVER GAY MARRIAGE
He has flouted the e of anti-gay slurs his sermons, lks the LGBTQ Pri movement wh pedophilia, and equently lls for gay people to be executed by the state (wh the Uned Stat beg a theocracy dited to rryg out those executns). READ NEXTIntersex Activist Alicia Roth Weigel is Fightg for the ‘I’When You Get In Bed Wh Bigots, Please RensirDeSantis Campaign Shar Homoerotic Ad Toutg Anti-LGBTQ RerdMadonna Is Out Of The Hospal, But Not All Better: Report. ”In addn to the trans actor playg a female role, “Barbie” is also guilty of “phg lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr character stori, ” acrdg to Moviegui, a Christian movie review se found by Ted and Lili Baehr.
PREACHER ASKS GOD TO KILL GAY PEOPLE IN “SLOW, PAFUL DEATH”
Recent rearch strongly suggts that LGBT people who ntue to intify as Christian experience heightened “homonegativy” – negative and shame-filled feelgs about their sexualy – pared to non-relig, or even formerly Christian, LGBT people. Combed wh this year’s class, the clergy panel voted on a group of 24 ndidat, three of whom are openly gay, he the ndidat mted to the nomatn’s historic requirement of “celibacy sglens and fahfulns marriage, ” acrdg to the FAQ time, more than 90% of the clergy voted to ratify the missn of the ndidat.
Rank said that he expects the language on homosexualy om 1972 to be leted om the nomatn’s doctre next dynamics of the clergy ssn were different this year followg the partur of dozens of church and their pastors. At a UMC General Conference that year, the theologilly nservative mp, aid by socially nservative Uned Methodists om Ai, outflanked the morat and liberals and phed through a rolutn affirmg existg UMC bans on same-sex weddgs and the ordatn of "self-avowed practicg homosexuals" as General Conference also approved a new church law, Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Disciple, offerg UMC church a path out of the Uned Methodist Church wh their church buildgs and property — if they get approval om two-thirds of their ngregatn, sign-off om their regnal erng body, and pay their fair share of clergy pensn liabili and two years of "apportnments" for the larger nomatn.