An overwhelming vote made at the Methodist Conference on Wednesday resulted to a vote to change the definition of marriage for U.K.'s largest religious denomination. The resolution was passed with the vote of 254 to 46.
According to BBC, the resolution includes freedom of conscience clauses that allow ministers to decline conducting weddings between same-sex couples if they feel it violates their religious beliefs.
The proposal to approve gay marriage was initially passed by the Methodist Conference in 2019, before it was sent to local synods for consultation. An overhelming 29 out of 30 synods voted in favor of the approval of gay marriages. The vote was supposed to take place last year, but was cancelled due to the pandemic. Now that it has passed, the U.K. Methodist Church expects to begin marrying same-sex couples in the fall.
Same-sex marriage is still not allowed in the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England, but has been allowed in the Scottish Episcopal Church, the United Reformed Church and the Quakers in Britain. The U.K. Methodist Church is the fourth largest Christian denomination in Britain with over 164,000 members in more than 4,000 churches.
The approval of gay marriages in the U.K. Methodist Church is a "momentous step on the road to justice" following years of "painful conversations," Rev. Sam McBratney of the Dignity and Worth campaign group said. He added, "We are so grateful to our fellow Methodists for taking this courageous step to recognise and affirm the value and worth of LGBTQ+ relationships."
Methodist Conference president Rev. Sonia Hicks said, "The debate today and our wider conversation has been conducted with grace and mutual respect. As we move forward together after this historic day for our Church, we must remember to continue to hold each other in prayer, and to support each other respecting our differences."
The resolution, however, is not without its detractors. According to the Christian Post, Rev. David Hull of the Methodist Evangelicals Together group that opposed the resolutions said that the defeat was a "very sad day for the Methodist Church."
Rev. Hull insists that there are a number of Methodists who believe and live by Jesus' "unique vision for life - one that is rooted deeply in the Bible" and that is far superior than the life people live today and its teachings on marriage and relationships.
In the U.S., conservative leaders in the United Methodist Church announced in March that they are looking to form a new denomination called the Global Methodist Church, which strictly abides by the Bible teachings and denounces same-sex marriage. The UMC is currently the largest mainline Protestant church in the U.S.
The U.K. Methodist Church may see a similar path following the approval of gay marriages especially for Methodist believers who condemn the new policy. For now, church members are mulling over these developments and deciding whether or not to leave the U.K. Methodist Church over its LGBTQ inclusions.
