...does it change the church? I would say yes, and for the better. I was "raised" in the Methodist church. That is to say, we attended one for several years of my early life. I always loved it and when, as a teen, I went to a Baptist church I decided that the Methodists were more liberal. More loving and less judgemental.
Good for this bishop! Demonstrating that love and acceptance.
When a United Methodist bishop blesses a gay wedding, does it change the church?BIRMINGHAM, Alabama - Retired United Methodist Bishop Melvin Talbert plans to officiate at a gay wedding today in Birmingham, for two men who are members of a United Methodist church in Hoover. The ceremony will be held in a church affiliated with the United Church of Christ denomination.
But will it affect the policy of the United Methodist Church, the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination with 7.4 million members? Probably not, said Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, a group that lobbies for orthodox Christian theology and monitors liberal trends in U.S. Protestant denominations.
Tooley, a lifelong United Methodist, said it's an unusual turn in a debate that has lasted more than four decades in the denomination. No United Methodist bishop, at least publicly, has officiated at a gay wedding.
"It has not really happened before," said Tooley. "These types of cases just seem to polarize further. Anytime we have a high-profile case, it just seems to excite people who are already decided. It will cause a lot of controversy."
Joe Openshaw, 59, and Bobby Prince, 54, were married Sept. 3 in Washington, D.C., where same-sex unions are legal. They aren't legal in Alabama, but the couple wanted a church ceremony that their friends and families could attend. "This is strictly a church ceremony," Talbert said. "It has nothing to do with the state. I am simply representing the church."
Talbert agreed to officiate the wedding despite a request from North Alabama Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett and other United Methodist bishops that he refrain from doing the ceremony, which is against United Methodist church law. The United Methodist Book of Discipline says that homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching."
In response to requests from Wallace-Padgett and the executive committee of the United Methodist Council of Bishops not to do the service, Talbert has informed them he plans to go ahead with the service against their wishes.
"I've had to say to both I regret that I cannot honor their request," Talbert said.
"We as the church have the privilege of inviting people to come to God's table, but we do not say which ones can and which ones can't," Bishop Talbert told AL.com. "They are all created in the image of God. They all have a place at God's table. They should not be excluded."
........
Talbert said it has become common for United Methodist clergy to defy the church rule, secretly marrying gay couples. Talbert said he even knows of some bishops who have privately done same-sex unions in secret. Talbert said he will be the first to do it openly and he's willing to risk being charged with breaking church law. "I'm still accountable," Talbert said. "There's a process for filing complaints for any person who has a leadership role in the church. I expect that to happen. It's not something I take lightly.
http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2013 ... rt_m-rpt-2
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