The denomination’s legal review could set the UMC on a path to division—or to yet another round of conference voting on gay marriage and clergy.
Millions of United Methodists are left waiting and wondering where their denomination will ultimately land in a decades-long dispute over gay marriage and clergy—and if a major split over the issue is imminent or if the debate will continue at its general conference once again next year.
Though the United Methodist Church (UMC) voted in February to keep its traditional marriage stance, barring congregations or conferences from performing same-sex ceremonies or ordaining gay clergy, whether that policy takes effect in 2020 depends on approval from the church’s Judicial Council, which met this week and could release its decision as early as Friday afternoon.
The council—a nine-member panel that essentially functions as the UMC’s Supreme Court—is tasked with reviewing the recently adopted legislation to ensure that it doesn’t violate the denomination’s constitution, which contains guidelines about church structures and processes.
Earlier this year, UMC delegates gathered for three days to try and chart a course through a 40-year-long minefield in the denomination’s position and policies over LGBT issues, particularly same-sex marriage and ordination. This special session of the UMC’s general conference ultimately voted in favor of the “Traditional Plan,” which reaffirmed its stance that homosexuality was “incompatible with Christian teaching” and strengthened its restrictions regarding marriage and ordination.
In the aftermath of the divisive denominational meeting, the Judicial Council must rule on whether it is constitutional to strengthen accountability measures for pastors or churches that violate this stance. (In the US, certain churches and regional …