Philadelphia UMC Bishop: No More Gay Weddings

on October 6, 2014

Institute on Religion and Democracy Press Release
October 6, 2014
Contact:  Jeff Walton office: 202-682-4131, cell: 202-413-5639, e-mail: jwalton@TheIRD.org

“There is indeed no integrity in people choosing to pursue United Methodist ordination without intending to keep their own word to uphold our compassionate standards.”
-UMAction Director John Lomperis

Washington, DC—United Methodist Bishop Peggy Johnson of Philadelphia, who supervises nearly 1,000 United Methodist congregations in Eastern Pennsylvania, Delaware, and eastern Maryland, announced Friday that “it is unacceptable to disregard and disobey” United Methodist Church rules forbidding ministers from conducting and churches from hosting same-sex union ceremonies. Johnson pledged that from now on, any United Methodist minister in her jurisdiction who “officiate[s] or host[s] a same-gender ceremony” will have complaints against them “handled swiftly” and will face “significant and appropriate consequences,” potentially including “trial, involuntary leave of absence without pay, or other significant consequences.”

This was achieved by a group of several dozen evangelical United Methodists in Johnson’s area, who in exchange agreed to seek no further punishment of the “Philadelphia 36” clergy who participated in the blessing of a same-sex union last November.

IRD’s United Methodist Action Director John Lomperis commented:

“This episode presents another example of United Methodism’s traditionalist majority going out of its way to be gracious and conciliatory as they uphold the historic Christian faith and seek to minister to all people in a biblically loving way, while a disruptive liberal minority keeps playing hardball in undermining our church.

“Many of the Philadelphia 36 demonstrated a striking lack of courage to stand by their professed liberal convictions, refusing to publicly release their names.

“I welcome Bishop Johnson’s strong statement to put her clergy on notice that she will no longer allow them to get away with violating our denomination’s biblical standards. There is indeed no integrity in people choosing to pursue United Methodist ordination without intending to keep their own word to uphold our compassionate standards.

“Bishop Johnson is a nice person. But it is sad commentary on her leadership that she made people go through so much time and trouble before she finally made this statement that from now on she will actually do a bishop’s job of upholding our standards. This reflects a larger problem of how some of our bishops demand congregations pay apportionments for their lavish salaries, which put them in the top tenth of one percent of the richest people in the world, while they neither personally support our church’s historic doctrine nor have meaningful accountability for not doing their jobs.”

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