By Brett Hetherington*

East Ohio Conference delegates to General Conference took part in the historic vote at General Conference that will remove from The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church restrictive language that bans clergy persons from “being a self-avowed practicing homosexual; or conducting ceremonies which celebrate homosexual unions; or performing same-sex wedding ceremonies”. The vote led to spontaneous celebration, cries of joy and expressions of pent-up lament over years lost, as this prohibition had been in place for 40 years.

“To me it was a liminal moment, a liminal space. For 30 years I’ve been on this journey to finally press the button to remove exclusionary language and hurtful language from The Discipline. Part of that is life experiences with some colleagues who their whole life have lived afraid to tell others who they authentically were. So yesterday it was a tearful moment for me,” said the Rev. Dan Bryant.

After decades of heated debate at past General Conferences, it surprised many that this year’s legislation to remove the restrictive language was part of the morning consent calendar, which places multiple pieces of legislation on a single ballot.

“For a minute I thought we were just going to pass it by, not a lot of people I didn’t think realized it was on the Consent Calendar,” said Connor Prusha. “There was concern. I think people just assumed someone was going to pull it off. And I patted Dan’s hand, and I patted Matt’s hand because I know how much this has meant to both of them specifically, and how I have watched LGBTQ siblings struggle for years myself knowing that the Spirit calls LGBTQ into ministry all the time and they’ve been in the church this whole time. But they haven’t been free to be themselves and who God has called them to be. So, to have that pass by such a wide margin (692-51) whether or not everyone knew that was on there shows that it was a long time coming and we were able to graciously and prayerfully move over the obstacles that have been for so long in place and now we can fully move into who God is calling us to be.”

The delegates meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina were doing the work of the postponed 2020 General Conference, which was not able to meet in Minneapolis because of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The four-year gap has been a mixed bag,” said lay delegate Dr. Martha Banks. “In some ways the delay has been helpful. I was extremely frustrated in 2019 when the bishops called the special conference for unity, and we came away with destruction. That was a major disappointment. And then the idea that people with inclusive thinking were expected to leave, and we didn’t. That really shifted how we could work to rebuild The United Methodist Church. As people are talking with the inclusion right now, I see this Church growing in ways that are beyond our imagination in the United States. I expect us to start outpacing some of the other areas of the world because the Church is now open for real.”

During the break between plenary sessions, a musical celebration broke out, involving delegates, observers and even a few bishops, singing songs of praise and unity. Prusha found great meaning in both the vote and the reaction to it.

“To go and celebrate over on the side with our observers and our delegates and to see both the incredible joy and excitement but also the grief and lament that have been stored for 52 years,” he said. “Those who have left the Church because they were not affirmed in who they are and the call that they had because of one part of their life even though they have been identified as having gifts and graces. To remember them in that moment and to know that we are really making change is meaningful for me especially for me as a young person in the Church.”

Bryant, however, found himself in a more solitary mood.

“When the vote was taken and passed my first step was to actually go up to the prayer room and I sat and just did a litany of prayers and literally shed some tears for those colleagues of ours who have had to live behind a shroud of secrecy and not authentic living as pastor, a colleague, or as a lay person.”

East Ohio delegates stressed that this was a step in the right direction, and a reason to celebrate. There is also more work to be done to build the Kingdom and to make disciples. This step forward is an opportunity to refocus energies and channel the Holy Spirit.

“I have numerous LGBTQ friends and they are some of the most compassionate, gracious, incredible, wonderful people I know and some of them have felt a call and I want The United Methodist Church to be a place where they can call home. We can be united in our goals of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Knowing that all are welcome at Christ’s table. It’s not our table, it’s not The United Methodist Church’s table, it’s not any church’s table, it is Jesus’s table and all are welcome. We’ve made a step towards that, we’ve got a lot more to do, but it was incredible to be here to witness that and I’m honored that I was able to press a button on a keypad and make that possible,” shared Prusha.

“For me it’s one of those moments that we stayed the course we’ve got the journey complete,” Bryant said. “A lot of work still to do, a lot of harm has been caused and we can’t go back and repair it. But we can lean forward into this liminal space to do something new and fresh, so for me it was a true honor to be able to do that after a lifelong journey.”

* Brett Hetherington is the Communications specialist for the East Ohio Conference of The United Methodist Church.