Ordination

The definition of abeyance as listed on dictionary.com. While the proposed “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation” is not a done deal, negotiators are asking for a pause in certain church closings and complaints in the meantime. Graphic by Laurens Glass, UM News.

Negotiators urge hold on trials, closures

Part of the new proposal for the denomination’s separation calls for a pause in closing churches and processing complaints related to LGBTQ restrictions.

General Church

The California-Nevada Annual Conference service of commissioning and ordination included six LGBTQ elders, deacons and local pastors. Front row, from left are: The Revs. Emily Pickens-Jones and Caiti Hamilton. Back row, from left are: The Revs. Tara Limbaugh, Rob Herrmann, Jacey Pickens-Jones and Kenneth Schoon. Photo by The Rev. Israel I. Alvaran.

California-Nevada has 6 new LGBTQ clergy

2019 California-Nevada Annual conference ordained, commissioned or licensed 13 clergy.

General Church

The Rev. Jane Graner wipes away tears after her June 3 ordination as an elder in the North Texas Conference. Graner, 57, is openly gay. Church law prohibits ordination of “self-avowed practicing” homosexuals, but conference officials noted her single status and said she qualified for ordination. Photo by Sam Hodges, UM News.

North Texas Conference ordains openly gay pastor

The Rev. Jane Graner, 57, and a lesbian but not ‘practicing,’ achieves dream she’s had since high school.

Church History

Portrait of Helenor M. Davisson, courtesy of Archives and History (edited from original); portrait of Anna Howard Shaw, courtesy of the Sophia Smith Collection, Smith College Libraries.

Ask The UMC: When did the church first ordain women?

Women served as preachers from the beginnings of the Methodist movement.

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