After over a year of planning an Open the Doors campaign for General Conference, over 75 RCP members and friends went to Denver in April 1996 to call attention to the need to positively address the prohibitions surrounding gay and lesbian United Methodists. RCP placed posters about its Open the Doors campaign in downtown businesses, and volunteers opened and held doors for General Conference delegates and visitors. Stories of discrimination in the church were told at a press conference, and posters displayed the names of over 10,000 individuals who had signed up as Reconciling United Methodists (RUMs) (Bloom, 1996). Youth, students and seminarians held a rally at which they urged the UMC to "open doors" to all, and Caught in the Middle, an

original musical drama written by RCP friends was presented (RMN, select 1996, para. 4).

 

We the undersigned bishops wish to affirm the commitment made at our consecration to the vows to uphold the Discipline of the church. However, we must confess the pain we feel over our personal convictions that are contradicted by the proscriptions in the Discipline against gay and lesbian persons within our church and from our ordained and diaconal ministers. . . . We believe it is time to break the silence and state where we are on this issue that is hurting and silencing countless faithful Christians. We will continue our responsibility to the order and discipline of the church but urge United Methodist churches to open the doors in gracious hospitality to all brothers and sisters in the faith. (Wood, 2000, p. 18; McAnally, 1996a) (See also Appendix O.)

Nearly half the 1996 GC delegates had positive reactions to the bishops’ statement, according to Wood (2000), in part, he said, because they understood that the Church could be split if the denomination failed to face the issue (p. 19).

Following the Denver 15 statement, GC delegates called for a response from the UM Council of Bishops (Council). After a number of closed meetings, the Council released a statement in the Daily Christian Advocate (a daily publication of UM GCs) in which they acknowledged that there are "serious differences" regarding homosexuality among UMs and the bishops and that they supported the delegates’ struggle with the issues, affirmed the legislative authority of the GC, and were open to God’s guidance in this matter. They also stated, "Our life together is not based on uniformity of mind or conscience" (McAnally, 1996b). In a news conference after the release of the Council statement, Bishop Woodie W. White, president of the Council, said that the Council "does not speak for the United Methodist Church, only the General Conference does." He elaborated, saying that once the "church has spoken," the bishops’ responsibility is to uphold the GS’s actions, adding that the Council acts not on feeling or opinion but on consensus (Baker, 1996).

News reports tell of an "impassioned" 90-minute debate over an attempt to replace the "incompatibility" clause with one that acknowledged that UMs were not of a "common mind," but GC delegates voted to leave the language unchanged (Burton, 1996a).

In other GC actions, the denominational trend of limiting and/or prohibiting the rights of GLBT UMs continued (Burton, 1996a), with three significant points added to the denominational policy. The delegates added a ban on same-gender unions to the Social Principles (Burton, 1996b; UMNS, 2001d): "Ceremonies that celebrate homosexual unions shall not be conducted by our ministers and shall not be conducted in our churches" (UMNS, 2001d; Discipline, 1996, Para 65G, p. 87; Wood, 2000, p. 23). In 2000, this statement was moved to a Discipline section defining ministerial responsibilities (Discipline, 2000, Para. 332.6, p. 220).

At the end of GC, delegates approved a footnote defining the term ‘self-avowed’ in ‘self-avowed, practicing homosexual’ as one who "openly acknowledges to a bishop, district superintendent, district committee of ordained ministry, board of ordained ministry, or clergy session that the person is a practicing homosexual" (UMNS 2001c; Lear, 1996b). This definition appeared as a footnote in the 1996 Discipline (page 304) and currently is found in the 2000 Discipline as Footnote 1 to Para. 304.3, p. 185).

GC delegates also approved a statement opposing discrimination against homosexuals in the U.S. military (Burton, 1996b). The statement says, in part,

The United Methodist Church is moving toward accepting all people for who they are. The United Methodist Church needs to be an advocate for equal civil rights for all marginalized groups, including homosexuals . . . The U.S. military should not exclude persons from service solely on the basis of sexual orientation. (UMNS, 2001d).

There was an attempt to adopt a criterion for prohibiting ordination or appointment that required "clear and convincing evidence" of homosexual practice, but this effort failed.

 

Next: 1996-2000