According to a recent decision made by the United Methodist Judicial Council (the highest judicial body of The United Methodist Church), local church boards cannot prevent pastors from conducting same sex marriages within the church building. See the UMNews story here.
This decision clarifies a previous ruling by the Judicial Council, made on the last day of the 2024 General Conference. In Decision 1503, the Judicial Council ruled that “Nothing in ¶ 2533 of the 2016 Book of Discipline prevents the Board of Trustees of a local church from adopting policies prohibiting the conduct of worship services that include same-sex marriage ceremonies.”
“Many in our church interpreted this decision as allowing local Boards of Trustees full authority to make decisions about the use of church property by both the pastor and the church body, including whether or not same sex weddings would be permitted on the church property,” shared Jim Polk, Assistant to the Bishop and Director of Connectional Ministries. “This new decision clarifies that the Book of Discipline grants authority to the pastor to make decisions about the worship that takes place in a local church. ”
The language added to Paragraph 340.2 of the Book of Discipline by the General Conference last May has not changed: “No clergy at any time may be required to provide for or compelled to perform, or prohibited from performing, any marriage, union, or blessing. All clergy have the right to exercise and preserve their conscience when requested to perform any marriage, union, or blessing.” United Methodist clergy will continue to be allowed to determine the marriages they will or will not perform, based upon their personal conscience. This new Judicial Council decision now clarifies that the pastor cannot be prevented from using the local church property to conduct weddings, including a same-sex ceremony… nor can a pastor be required to use church facilities to perform a religious marriage service.
The role and responsibilities of local Boards of Trustees have not changed. These may be found here.
“It is our earnest hope that clear, respectful, caring conversation will be the standard for our Christian leaders in our congregations,” shared Bishop Laura Merrill. “The relationship between pastor and congregation must be built on trust.”
“We do anticipate this to be a discussion point in some of our churches,” shared Rev. Zach Roberts, Dean of the ARUMC Cabinet. “We are encouraging our churches and clergy to continue working together to determine the most faithful use of church property, in service to God and our communities.”
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