In 1992, the United Methodist (UM) General Conference, the top legislative body of the 8,292,809 member protestant denomination, heard, but did not accept, the Report of the Committee to Study Homosexuality, a committee and its subsequent study mandated by the UM Church’s1988 General Conference. (See Terms and Definitions for fuller definitions of UM-specific terms such as General Conference.)

It has been ten years (as of 2002, now longer!) since that report. There have been discussions, debates, conflict, votes and demonstrations, but the United Methodist Church (UMC), the nation’s second largest protestant denomination (Glenmary, 2002), is no closer to understanding sexuality and sexual orientation. Neither is it any closer to finding a resolution to the concerns and issues surrounding sexuality and sexual orientation than it was in 1988 when it mandated the denomination-wide study of the subject. The Church still does not know who its gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered (GLBT) members are, where they are, how the GLBT United Methodists (UMs) think and feel about the UMC, and why they remain members of and/or affiliated with, the denomination. Nor does the UMC know how important the church is in the lives of its GLBT members and how active they are in their local churches.

At least one UM study has been done to look at what the policy-makers think (Wood, 2000). Studies by others (Fisher, 1989; Carney and Davies, 1991) have included a few (1 to 8) gay or lesbian United Methodists. Comstock (1996) has done a large multi-denominational study that includes a group of 199 gay, lesbian, and bisexual United Methodists. But no study has been done by the United Methodist Church to determine where its GLBT members are, how they feel and think about the UM Church, and/or why they remain members of and/or affiliated with, the United Methodist Church. And if they were to do such a study, it is possible (and maybe probable) that GLBT participation would be low due to fear of increased discrimination and/or reprisal.

The denomination’s official stance on homosexuality holds that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, that same-sex Union Ceremonies cannot be held in United Methodist Churches, and that gay and lesbian persons (and/or persons in same-sex relationships) cannot be ordained as clergy in the United Methodist Church. At present (2002), celibate gay and lesbian UM clergy may be appointed to churches, but it is unclear if celibate gay and lesbian UMs can officially be ordained. This may depend on the position of the annual conferences, the basic geographical administrative units of the UMC, but to date (2002), the UMC has not specifically forbidden such actions. The denomination does not specifically address or forbid the ordination of bisexuals and transgendered persons.

The UMC as an official body has been unable to agree that there is disagreement within it regarding homosexuality in general, and it has also been unable to accept and state that there is no agreement on this issue. Gay pastors are stripped of credentials, and pastors are charged and tried for conducting union ceremonies. Other gay pastors serve churches, and other UM pastors conduct union ceremonies without reprimands. Gay UMs are active throughout the denomination. In some areas, the outstanding work of gay clergy and heterosexual clergy alike is recognized and honored. And in other areas, only the work of heterosexual clergy is recognized. In some areas, the bishops and their cabinets know of the concerns of their UM laity and clergy and are working to improve conditions within the UMC for them. In other areas, bishops, their cabinets, and/or annual conference clergy are unaware of the feelings and concerns of their gay lay and clergy constituents or, if they are aware, are not supportive of them.

However, in spite of the denomination’s inability to conclude that there is no agreement on the issue, GLBT UMs are in the denomination, they consider it home, and they do not plan to leave. Perhaps this dissertation will help the United Methodist Church to recognize that GLBT UMs, both lay and clergy, are active in, care about, and committed to the UMC.

Over all this time, the UMC never bothered to listen to the gay, lesbian, and bisexual members in its midst. I did, and much of the information I found can be found in the pages of this web site. To read more about the UMC’s actions and stance with regard to homosexuality, you may want to review my timeline of actions and policies within the denomination (warning: long, detailed page). I have also developed a narrative of that history.

Read about Dr. Stroud's Personal Journey