Despite ban, 200 Methodists attend lesbian ceremony
FORT WORTH | 3 dozen ministers hear Chicago couple exchange vows
FORT WORTH, Texas -- More than 200 Methodists attended the commitment ceremony Friday of a lesbian couple from Chicago, in defiance of a vote to uphold a church law that says gay relationships are ''incompatible with Christian teaching.''
"The United Methodist Church has been and continues to be both blessing and burden to us," said Julie Bruno, one of the women getting married. ''When the church turns her back on us, withholds blessing from us, does God withhold blessing? Does God stop loving us? We continue to be the church to and for each other. We continue to be the instruments of God's light and love.''
(AP)
No clergy member presided over the commitment ceremony for Bruno and Sue Laurie of Chicago, who've been a couple for 25 years. But about three dozen ministers attended.
The ceremony was at a park across from the Fort Worth Convention Center, where 3,000 people are meeting for the United Methodist Church's general conference, a gathering held every four years to set church policy.
Methodist leaders rejected replacing a sentence in the faith's Book of Discipline -- which says the church "does not condone the practice of homosexuality" -- with other phrases, including one that says Christians differ on the issue. The measure to change the language also was rejected at the last conference, in 2004.
Those attending the conference also voted against a proposal to change a policy allowing pastors to keep gays and lesbians from joining the denomination's churches.
''There was a lot of robust debate as there has been for 36 years, particularly over the phrase that refers to 'incompatible,' " said the Rev. Gregory V. Palmer, president of the church's Council of Bishops.
At the ceremony, some said acceptance of gays in some churches encouraged them but that the denomination had a long way to go.
Officiating at a same-sex union ceremony violates church rules for clergy and would leave them vulnerable to being charged in Methodist church courts.
The Rev. Julie Todd spoke during the ceremony and led the communion. Afterward, she said she doubted her role would subject her to any church disciplinary action.
But, if it does, Todd said, "I believe so strongly that this is the role of the church and of the ordained clergy in blessing loving relationships that I am not concerned about the consequences."
AP
