The Traditional Plan\u2019s success was attributable to an alliance of conservatives from the U.S. and overseas. About 43 percent of the delegates were from abroad, mostly from Africa, and overwhelmingly supported the LGBTQ bans.<\/p>\n
If the bans were eased, \u201cthe church in Africa would cease to exist,\u201d said the Rev. Jerry Kulah of Liberia. \u201cWe can\u2019t do anything but to support the Traditional Plan \u2013 it is the biblical plan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council of Bishops President Kenneth H. Carter, speaking at a news conference after the session, said the meeting was necessary \u201cbecause if the impasse we found ourselves in\u201d over questions of human sexuality.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would just simply say that we have work to do. We did not accomplish that in these three days,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
Carter said he is concerned the plan will cause progressive churches to leave the denomination. He said church leaders \u201cwill be doing a lot of outreach\u201d to those churches.<\/p>\n
\u201cPersons will feel harmed,\u201d Carter said.<\/p>\n
The deep split within the church was evident in several fiery speeches opposing the Traditional Plan.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we bring this virus into our church, it will bring illness to us all,\u201d said the Rev. Thomas Berlin of Herndon, Virginia. He predicted many Methodist churchgoers and some regional bodies would leave the church, while others would \u201cstay and fight,\u201d performing same-sex weddings even if it meant punishment.<\/p>\n Many supporters of the more liberal plan stood in support as Berlin spoke. Some wore rainbow-motif garments or sat behind rainbow banners. After the vote, a small group of protesters carried a cross to the stage at the conference and sat around it. Another group of about 200 people staged a peaceful sit-down protest while about two dozen police officers watched.<\/p>\n The Rev. Allen Ewing-Merrill, a pastor from Portland, Maine, pledged defiance of the Traditional Plan, tweeting: \u201cI will not participate in your bigotry, sin & violence.\u201d<\/p>\n An association of Methodist theological schools warned that if the Traditional Plan passes, the church \u201cwill lose an entire generation of leaders in America.\u201d<\/p>\n Formed in a merger in 1968, the United Methodist Church claims about 12.6 million members worldwide, including nearly 7 million in the United States.<\/p>\n While other mainline Protestant denominations, such as the Episcopal and Presbyterian (U.S.A.) churches, have embraced gay-friendly practices, the Methodist church still bans them, though acts of defiance by pro-LGBTQ clergy have multiplied. Many have performed same-sex weddings; others have come out as gay or lesbian from the pulpit of their churches.<\/p>\n Enforcement of the bans has been inconsistent; the Traditional Plan aspires to beef up discipline against those engaged in defiance.<\/p>\n The Rev. Tim Bagwell, 64, pastor at a UMC church in Macon, Georgia, had opposed the Traditional Plan and called the outcome \u201cdeeply painful.\u201d But he said his church will stay with UMC until at least 2020, when the next major conference is scheduled. He\u2019s hopeful new delegates will be elected and change course to a more inclusive church.<\/p>\n \u201cI am deeply sad,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Methodist church has always been mainstream, reaching out to people. This sends a different tone \u2026 one of exclusion, not inclusion.\u201d<\/p>\n The Rev. Scott Hagan, 45, a pastor from Bonaire, Georgia, supported the Traditional Plan, saying the liberals\u2019 alternative would have sent a mixed message.<\/p>\n \u201cTo have each church \u2013 possibly in the same town \u2013 offering a different perspective and practice would surely be confusing to the public that comes to the church looking for guidance,\u201d Hagan said.<\/p>\n David Crary reported from New York.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" cause some to leave church<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":95375,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5990,5843],"tags":[],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-95374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-faith","category-living"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/95375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95374"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=95374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}