Human sexuality amendments fail

During morning plenary, delegates voted down two amendments to the Social Principles that sought to acknowledge members of the United Methodist Church disagree on homosexuality. Tita Parham and Kathy Gilbert are covering this story for UMNS; I’ll talk with them on tonight’s GC2012 Radio podcast.

I went out to the hall during the break and caught a couple of reactions from delegates.


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Social Concerns
The Rev. Dr. Sheron C. Patterson. Photo courtesy of the author.

A United Methodist call to healthy aging

The United Methodist Church should serve as a model for healthy aging and caregiving. “It is not simply a healthcare issue. It is a discipleship issue,” writes retired pastor.
Violence
United Methodist missionary Janet Lahr Lewis (left) visits with Basma Manasra as she and her family harvest olives in 2006 on their farm in the West Bank village of Wadi Foquin. The region has seen increased threats of violence and land confiscation since the Hamas attack on Israel in 2023. United Methodists, who have a long partnership with Wadi Foquin, have appealed to the U.S. government to help halt the annexation of Palestinian land and ensure a permanent and equitable peace between Israel and Palestine. File photo by Paul Jeffrey.

Church members urge intervention in West Bank

The California-Nevada Conference makes an appeal to the U.S. government as violence escalates in Palestinian villages, including longtime church partner Wadi Foquin.
Social Concerns
Bishop C. Dale White speaks at the 1980 United Methodist General Conference in Indianapolis about his 11-day visit to Iran in November aimed at fostering dialogue amid the Iranian hostage crisis. White spoke about his delegation’s meeting with the Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. File photo courtesy of the United Methodist Commission on Archives and History.

Taking action during a previous Iran crisis

A few weeks into the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis, Bishop C. Dale White of New Jersey joined a small delegation of religious leaders headed to Iran in hopes of fostering dialogue.

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