KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Church of the Resurrection senior pastor Adam Hamilton is set to speak about a recent plan to split up the United Methodist Church over issues surrounding LGBTQ involvement and inclusion, a topic of fierce moral debate in the church.
Last spring, the United Methodist Church voted in its world-wide conference to reject a proposal that would have reset the definition of sexual morality to include members of the LGBTQ community. The proposal, which had support among United Methodist bishops in the United States, was voted against 449 to 374.
Instead, the Traditional Plan was upheld in April by the United Methodist Church’s judicial council. The plan largely upheld bans on same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ pastors.
The decision was supported largely by members of the church in different countries, while many US church leaders and members, including several in Kansas City, sided with the other plan.
At the time, Rev. Tom Lambrecht, general manager of the conservative Methodist magazine Good News, suggested that those wishing to change the rules to add LGBTQ inclusion measures start their own denomination.
However, the new plan appears to suggest that those who agree with the Traditional Plan will start their own denomination, while those who support same-sex marriage and LGBTQ pastors will remain as the United Methodist Church, according to leaders at the Church of the Resurrection.
The church would “remove all language and policies from the ‘Book of Discipline’ that restrict LGBTQ persons in the church,’ according to a from the Church of the Resurrection. It would also allow pastors to determine who they will or will not marry.
However, they would also provide funding for those wanting to leave the United Methodist Church in order to help them get a new denomination started.
The plan wouldn’t go into effect until the General Conference in May, where members will vote on its passage.
Hamilton is set to speak about the plan at 2:45 p.m today, Jan. 3. FOX4 will be at the conference and have the full story later on.