Openly Gay Bishop At Center Of Controversy In Uned Methodist Church : NPR

Contents:

• UNED METHODIST CHURCH BODY ELECTS OPENLY GAY BISHOP VLATN OF S L: 'INMAT NNG THE ASYLUM'
• UMC BODY ELECTS OPENLY GAY BISHOP FIANCE OF NOMATN'S L
• OPENLY GAY BISHOP AT CENTER OF CONTROVERSY IN UNED METHODIST CHURCH
• UNED METHODISTS ELECT ANOTHER GAY BISHOP, SET LIBERAL NEW DIRECTN
• FIRST OPENLY GAY UNED METHODIST BISHOP STAYS, SUBJECT TO CHURCH REVIEW
• WTERN JURISDICTN ELECTS OPENLY GAY UNED METHODIST BISHOP
• 'BLSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS': COLORADO'S OPENLY GAY METHODIST BISHOP KAREN OLIVETO TWEETS AS CHURCH PROPOS SPL OVER GAY RIGHTS
• COMPLAT FILED AGAST GAY BISHOP'S NSECRATN

UNED METHODIST CHURCH BODY ELECTS OPENLY GAY BISHOP VLATN OF S L: 'INMAT NNG THE ASYLUM'

A regnal body of the Uned Methodist Church (UMC) voted to elect the nomatn's first openly gay Black bishop last week vlatn of s l prohibg the ordatn of "self-avowed practicg homosexuals. Her ordatn was emed valid by the Uned Methodist Judicial Council 2017, but she remas her CHURCH OF ENGLAND OFFICIALS ENDORSE GAY MARRIAGE: ‘RANK HERESY’The UMC, which is the third-largt Prottant nomatn the U.

Bishop Karen Oliveto, the UMC's first openly gay bishop, speaks at Iliff School of Theology, on April 26, 2017, Denver, Colorado. "Several nservative members of the Methodist clergy told Fox News Digal June that far om settlg the issue, however, the 2019 vote was disregard by many liberal lears wh the UMC who cid to rema the nomatn while missng openly gay clergy and officiatg same-sex weddgs Lomperis of the Instute on Relign & Democracy, who has served as a UMC General Conference legate, told The Christian Post that Bridgeforth's promotn exhibs "further direct fiance of the UMC’s official l, which is creasgly beg normalized.

UMC BODY ELECTS OPENLY GAY BISHOP FIANCE OF NOMATN'S L

4, 2022, shortly after beg elected by legat of the Wtern Jurisdictn to be the first openly gay black bishop The Uned Methodist Church. Bridgeforth, who has served as the California-Pacific Conference’s director of novatn and munitn, beme the first openly gay Ain Amerin bishop the UMC.

OPENLY GAY BISHOP AT CENTER OF CONTROVERSY IN UNED METHODIST CHURCH

”Bridgeforth’s electn go agast the UMC Book of Disciple, which prohibs the ordatn of “self-avowed practicg homosexuals, ” and th do not allow them to bee Christian Post reached out to the Wtern Jurisdictn for ment, however, a spokperson explaed that they were unable to rpond by prs time due to travel schl and Lomperis of the Instute on Relign & Democracy, who has served as a UMC General Conference legate the past, viewed Bridgeforth's electn as part of a broar shift among UMC learship to embrace views that are ntrary to tradnal Christian teachg. ”For the past several years, the UMC has been embroiled a divisive bate over whether to change s official l barrg same-sex marriage and noncelibate homosexual ordatn. Although efforts by theologil progrsiv to change the nomatn’s l have nsistently failed, many have openly refed to enforce the standards regardg marriage and 2016, the Wtern Jurisdictn unanimoly elected Karen Oliveto to be bishop of the UMC Mounta Sky Area, makg her the first openly gay bishop the history of the the UMC’s hight urt, the Uned Methodist Judicial Council, led 2017 that Oliveto’s electn was valid, as of November of this year, she remas and other events have prompted many theologil nservativ recent months to leave the male nomatn and jo the newly created Global Methodist Church.

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST: An openly gay bishop is at the center of a ntroversy over the role of LGBTQ people The Uned Methodist Church.

UNED METHODISTS ELECT ANOTHER GAY BISHOP, SET LIBERAL NEW DIRECTN

Jog me now is Bishop you so much for g on the program, OLIVETO: Thank you so much for havg me, So the urt gave somethg of a muddled lg sayg that you are good standg, but that the nsecratn of an openly gay bishop is agast church law. Were you openly gay om - sce you first beme a pastor? This seems to be the issue, as far as I unrstand - not that you are gay but that you are quote, unquote, "sexually active.

FIRST OPENLY GAY UNED METHODIST BISHOP STAYS, SUBJECT TO CHURCH REVIEW

" The church's book of disciple stat the followg - and I'm quotg here - "the practice of homosexualy is patible wh Christian teachg. Therefore, self-avowed practicg homosexuals are not to be certified as ndidat, ordaed as misters or appoted to serve The Uned Methodist Church. One, when we put the phrase, 1972, although we do not ndone the practic of homosexualy and nsir patible wh Christian teachg, there was no discsn of what the practice of homosexualy entails.

And I thk we've raised the opn - our opn on human sexualy and homosexualy, to an I thk that has ed this wi divisn the church.

Bridgeforth is the first openly gay Ain-Amerin man to be elected bishop. Regnal meetgs this month that clud the electn of s send openly gay bishop. ”They also passed non-bdg measur askg anyone to whdraw om learship rol if they're planng to leave the nomatn soon — a tegory that almost entirely clus nservativ movg toward the nomatn still officially bans same-sex marriage and the ordatn of any “self-avowed, practicg homosexual, ” and only a legislative gatherg lled the General Conference n change that.

WTERN JURISDICTN ELECTS OPENLY GAY UNED METHODIST BISHOP

He is the first openly gay Ain-Amerin man to be elected bishop. A vote by a 2019 General Conference was the latt of several recent s that rerced the church's ban on gay clergy and marriage.

”Showg the new normal, a send openly partnered, gay activist bishop, Cedric Bridgeforth, was elected the Wtern Jurisdictn, and a third me historilly close to beg elected the Northeast, openly breakg longstandg l banng “self-avowed, practicg homosexual” clergy.

'BLSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS': COLORADO'S OPENLY GAY METHODIST BISHOP KAREN OLIVETO TWEETS AS CHURCH PROPOS SPL OVER GAY RIGHTS

The growg uc of gay activist bishops will creasgly refe the nomatn.

COMPLAT FILED AGAST GAY BISHOP'S NSECRATN

But the gay activist bishops’ lavish, six-figure salari are subsidized annually by apportnments taken om Uned Methodist offerg plat across the untry. Bishop Karen Oliveto beme the church's first openly gay bishop, spe the fact that was led as patible wh church law. The first openly lbian bishop the Uned Methodist church n stay on the job but is subject to a disciplary review that uld lead to her removal, the church’s top urt led on Karen Oliveto’s civil marriage to another woman vlat church law that bars clergy who are “self-avowed practicg homosexuals”, the judicial uncil said.

Oliveto was elected last year to lead a Denver-area church regn that is part of the Methodist wtern jurisdictn, which has rejected the nomatn’s posn that “the practice of homosexualy is patible wh Christian teachg” other gay clerics, based Los Angel and Ccnati, were nomated the same electn. That led to Friday’s lg, which the urt said bishops who nsecrate an openly gay bishop are nsired vlatn of Methodist law and subject to church lg was ma on a 6-3 vote.

LGBT advot the church have stepped up prsure to lift prohibns on gay clergy. Frank Wulf, another openly gay ndidate, had whdrawn earlier. Bishop Melv Talbert, retired om the Wtern Jurisdictn, said he wasn’t sure he would ever live to see the day when the church would elect an openly gay bishop.