General Conference Vote Tally

Voting on United Methodism's sexuality stand

On Thursday, May 3, delegates to the 2012 General Conference in Tampa rejected two amendments to the United Methodist Social Principles that would have declared that the global denomination holds two different views regarding "whether homosexual practice is contrary to the will of God."

Amid two hours of passionate debate and silent protest throughout the convention center, there were three separate votes on the two amendments to change the denomination's stance on homosexuality. All three votes failed in percentages ranging from 54-46 percent to 61-39 percent margins.

(Photo: The Revs. Mike Slaughter (front) and Adam Hamilton speak at the denomination's 2012 General Conference. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.)

With those votes, the General Conference retained the language in the 2008 Book of Discipline (Para 161F) that states, "The United Methodist Church does not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching." (To read all four paragraphs of Para 161 F, click HERE.)

"Despite a lavish and relentless lobbying effort, United Methodism once again took a stand to be the last remaining mainline denomination to uphold biblical standards in regard to marriage and sexuality," said the Rev. Thomas Lambrecht, vice president of Good News and coordinator of the Renewal and Reform Coalition at the 2012 General Conference.

A proposal from the Global Young People's Convocation and Legislative Assembly to replace Para 161 F was presented by the Rev. James Howell of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. Howell represented the minority viewpoint on the Church and Society B legislative committee. The petition had been rejected by the committee by a 43-33 vote.

"We have said for a long time we do not condone homosexuality," said Howell, "but they are here, they are in our delegations, they are serving in our churches. They keep coming back to a church that says no to them. There is a kind of miracle in that."

(Photo: The Rev. Maxie Dunnam speaks at the 2012 General Conference. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.)

Following Howell's presentation, the Rev. Adam Hamilton of the Kansas East Annual Conference presented a substitute petition that was co-written with the Rev. Mike Slaughter of the West Ohio Annual Conference.

Their proposed amendment would have stated, "All in the United Methodist Church affirm that homosexual persons are people of sacred worth and all are welcome in our churches, but we disagree as a people regarding whether homosexual practice is contrary to the will of God."

Their substitution also stated: "A significant minority of our church views the scriptures that speak to same-sex intimacy as reflecting the understanding, values, historical circumstances and sexual ethics of the period in which the scriptures were written, and therefore believe these passages do not reflect the timeless will of God. They read the scriptures related to same-sex intimacy in the same way that they read the Bible's passages on polygamy, concubinage, slavery and the role of women in the church." (To read the entire Hamilton-Slaughter substitution, click HERE.)

The Rev. Maxie Dunnam of the Kentucky Annual Conference spoke against the substitution, "We do live in a world of gray, but Christians are called to holiness. I know that holiness without love is not God's kind of holiness. But love without holiness is not God's kind of love. Our present position in the Discipline includes both holiness with love and love with holiness."

(Photo: Jen Ihlo speaks at the 2012 General Conference. A UMNS photo by Kathleen Barry.)

Speaking in favor of the substitute, Jen Ihlo of the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference said, "I am a lesbian and a child of God and I strongly urge the body to support this compromise language so that gay youth ... will recognize that the church loves them and God loves them and the violence and pain and suicide will stop."

"We disagree, and we do need tolerance. But for some, tolerance means all beliefs are equal, and that is not true," said the Rev. Jim Cowart of the South Georgia Annual Conference in a speech against the substitute. "We love you just like you are, and we love you enough to tell you what the scriptures say."

(Photo: The Rev. Jim Cowart speaks at the 2012 General Conference. A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.)

The General Conference delegates voted 513-439 (53.9 to 46.1 percent) not to substitute the original motion with the Hamilton-Slaughter language. A follow-up amendment to the Howell petition failed by a similar margin.

Finally, the original motion by Howell to replace Para 161 F was defeated 572-368 (60.9 to 39.1 percent). This compares with a final vote of 501-417 (54.6 to 45.4 percent) in 2008 that reaffirmed United Methodism's current position and turned down similar "agree to disagree" language.

To read the statement on why we should not agree to disagree from the Rev. Rob Renfroe, president and publisher of Good News, click HERE.

-Good News Editorial Team