Membership Ruse
Will Methodist Courts Embrace “Gay” Methodists?
by Mark Tooley
Thanks to the growing number of United Methodists in Africa, the great majority theologically orthodox, the 11-million-member United Methodist Church (with 8.2 million members in the United States) is increasingly steering in an orthodox direction on the ordination of homosexual pastors and same-sex unions. But the Methodist debate over homosexuality has surprisingly shifted from these issues to church membership, and the church’s direction on this matter is yet unclear, though the signs are hopeful.
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Mark Tooley directs the United Methodist committee of the Institute on Religion and Democracy (www.ird-renew.org) in Washington, D.C.
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