From Star-Telegram.com:
By TERRY LEE GOODRICH
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH -- Delegates at the United Methodist Church's General Conference voted Wednesday to adhere to the church's position that marriage should not include same-sex unions and that homosexual acts are not compatible with Christian teaching.
Those guidelines are included in church's Social Principles, which do not have the force of church law but are to instruct the denomination's 11 million members. The nearly 1,000 delegates at the international conference at the Fort Worth Convention Center are struggling with social issues at the conference that ends Friday.
While affirming the existing guidelines about sexuality, delegates also approved a resolution Wednesday opposing homophobia.
Numerous delegates at the crowded session spoke into microphones placed around the convention center floor. One man from Africa said that "we love homosexuals, but we detest what they do."
Others said condemnation of homosexual behavior conflicts with Jesus' message of love and acceptance.
The church must guard against "denying companionship and intimacy in loving relationships just because there are differences of understanding," a Texas pastor said.
The Methodist Book of Discipline says all people are welcome to become members and receive sacraments, and at past conferences delegates have reaffirmed that gays and lesbians are people of "sacred worth." One man, who said he is gay, said the church is a "safe place. ... That should not be sacrificed."
A woman suggested that the Social Principles should be modified: "Let's just say we are all faithful Christians and agree to disagree."
WEDNESDAY'S VOTES
Approved, 517-416, keeping the statement that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
Rejected, 574-298, a measure that would have changed the church's definition of marriage to include same-sex unions.
Approved, 544-365, a resolution opposing homophobia and discrimination against lesbians or gays.
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