South District Opportunity to Hear Bishop Grant Hagiya’s Report from Commission on a Way Forward

 

Bishop Grant Hagiya will be in San Diego on September 16 to present the newly released report by the Commission on a Way Forward and explain the possible impacts of the report on the United Methodist Church, including changes which could conceivably restructure the very framework of the denomination. The resolution of this volatile issue has the possibility of critically dividing the church. Currently, the church considers homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching” and does not allow “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” to become clergy members, according to the Book of Discipline. It also does not offer church weddings to same-sex couples. 

 

Bishop Hagiya is a member of the Commission on a Way Forward. Over the past year and a half, the 32-member Commission has completed an examination of every paragraph of the Book of Discipline concerning human sexuality and has explored options to help maintain and strengthen the unity of the church. The Commission’s recommendations will be presented at a specially called UMC General Conference (the denomination’s top legislative body) in February 2019 for a vote by the delegation in attendance.The full report can be read here in four languages. 

 

Share this invitation with everyone who would like to enter a thoughtful dialogue about LGBTQ+ inclusion and the future of the United Methodist Church.