A regional body of the United Methodist Church that previously refused to enforce the denomination’s ban on noncelibate homosexual clergy has upheld the ordination standards.
In 2016, the Baltimore-Washington Annual Conference of the UMC joined a few other regional bodies in refusing to enforce the UMC Book of Discipline’s ban on clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”
However, in a ruling given on Wednesday evening, Baltimore-Washington Area Bishop LaTrelle Easterling said that two individuals approved by the Board of Ordained Ministry for ordination and commissioning are ineligible due to violating the “practicing homosexuals” ban.
Bishop Easterling said in a statement posted to the Baltimore-Washington Conference’s website on Thursday that she believed “there are no winners here today,” adding that while she does not agree with the current Book of Discipline’s position on ordination standards, “it is the book upon which we order our work together, and live in covenant with one another.”
“In my opinion, when we pick and choose how and when we will uphold it, we begin the slippery slope…
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