Denominational actions against clergy continued following the 1980 General Conference. "Administrative location" rules were used to remove gay clergy from active church ministry (Kristula, 1991, unpublished, p. 8), and ". . . a Texas Conference terminated the membership of a pastor who acknowledged that he was gay" (Moore, 2000a).
Charges were filed against Bishop Melvin Wheatley, then serving the Denver Area, for appointing Julian Rush, a gay pastor, to a Denver UM church in 1982 (Moore, 2000a; Kristula, p. 9). According to Allen Morris (n.d.b) of Concerned Methodists, Inc., Wheatley said, "Homosexuality is a mysterious gift of God's grace," and "I clearly do not believe homosexuality is a sin." In response to charges brought against Wheatley by three Georgia UM churches that his stance "had undermined ‘the authority of Holy Scripture,’" (Morris, in chronological order) an investigative committee said it found no "reasonable grounds" for accusing the bishop (Morris, citing Good News as his source). In determining that Wheatley had acted appropriately and had followed the Discipline, the UM Judicial Council also ruled that "there is nothing in church law that explicitly prohibits ordination of homosexual persons (Moore, 2000a; Kristula, 1991, unpublished, p. 9; JC Decision 513, 1982). The Judicial Council decision stated, "The Annual Conference decides whether to ordain eligible persons and admit them to full membership" (JC Decision 513, 1982; see Appendix J).
In 1982, Bishop Jack Tuell placed Morris Floyd, Affirmation leader, on involuntary leave of absence after Floyd asked for a special appointment to the Gay Community Services of Minneapolis (Kristula, 1991, unpublished, p. 8). Tuell said he did not believe that the organization required the presence of an ordained person and that he "did not believe that the organization subscribed to the totality of the United Methodist position regarding homosexuality." The UM Judicial Council upheld Tuell’s decision and said that it is legal, under UM law, to place a pastor in good standing on involuntary leave (JC Decision 524, 1983).
And in 1983, the UM Judicial Council ruled that the Discipline did not prohibit ordination or appointment of practicing homosexuals (UMNS, 2001d). This ruling set the stage for ordination to be a central issue and concern at the 1984 GC.
During the period between the 1980 and 1984 General Conferences, partly as a result of a lack of positive changes at the 1980 General Conference and partly due to ideological differences between its early leaders and newcomers, Affirmation experienced internal conflict. Some say the organization nearly came to an end in the several years following the 1980 GC (RCP, 2000b, p. 10).
In spite of the internal conflict, Affirmation continued to work for change. Its plans for the upcoming General Conference "included church-wide education, legislative action, and a ministry of presence," an emphasis on additions to the Discipline to make the language more positive and a push to create a General Commission on Homophobia (Kristula, 1991, unpublished, p. 9), but a big change occurred in Affirmation’s approach: they caucus began to plan for what the group would do following the anticipated defeats at the 1984 General Conference (Kristula, p. 9).
In 1983, Affirmation members Mark Bowman, D. J. Porter, and Perry Wiggins began developing a program based on the 1978 More Light Program developed within Presbyterian (USA) Church, "a program in which local churches will declare their support for the concerns of lesbians and gay men" (RCP, 2000b, p. 11) and publicly support the full participation of gays and lesbians in the life of local churches. This was the beginning of the Reconciling Congregations Program (RCP); Mark Bowman and Beth Richardson were volunteer co-coordinators for the new program (RMN, select 1984, para. 1).
Prior to the 1984 General Conference, Affirmation also developed a "Platform" statement that pointed out that some of the opposition’s "own pastors, etc., might in fact be invisible examples of their greatest fears" (Kristula, 1991, unpublished, p. 10):
Because lesbians and gay men so often must remain invisible – especially if professionally employed in the church – the institution goes on fantasizing all the terrible consequences of ordaining, consecrating, commissioning, or otherwise employing these persons. The faithful service of gay and lesbian bishops, district superintendents, deaconesses, pastors, Christian educators, and lay persons goes largely unrecognized. (Kristula, 1991, unpublished, p. 10)
Denominationally, there was a growing emphasis on language change and usage, specifically the distinction between sexual orientation and sexual practice; this became a major focus of the 1984 General Conference.
1980-1984