‘Safe harbor’ offered to LGBTQ Methodists
The five bishops of the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church have declared their churches a “safe harbor” for LGBTQ clergy.
The Safe Harbor Declaration was announced November 6 as the United Methodists’ Council of Bishops wrapped up its autumn meeting in Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. It comes weeks before new restrictions strengthening the denomination’s ban on the ordination and marriage of LGBTQ members take effect on January 1.
“We are haunted by the actions of the 2019 Special General Conference, which impose new and harmful definitions and restrictions on full participation of LGBTQ+ persons in the Church and abandon robust engagement of scripture to narrow biblical literalism,” the declaration states.
