I'm also a Methodist, and I disagree with the UMC on this one, on principle. I do think the bishop has a point that the Book of Discipline does not prohibit homosexual membership, however, and thus I think the UMC was within its rights.
What if this were an adulterer or fornicator? Would they be refused membership? My church has them in the congregation.
They should be. This is a major problem in the modern universal Church--allowing unrepentant sinners (note: UNREPENTANT) to become members of the church, and not disciplining members who fall into sin.
I recall a sermon by one of our pastors; he was stating that someone once scoffed at attending our church because we were all sinners. The pastor's reply was "Sure we are! Our church is filled with sinners and there is always room for one more!"
There is a major difference between the principle that "Every man has sinned," and "Every man is an unrepentant sinner."
We are all sinners. I sure am. I have no right to enter heaven for the sins I have committed, and trust, I have committed some bad ones. If I go to heaven, it is only by the grace of God. God calls us to recognize our sin and repent.
Exactly my point. God calls us to repent; and in fact, having gone through a change-of-congregation membership ritual within the past two years, I know that part of the vows taken to become a member in the UMC include the vow that you repent of your sins and renounce the forces of spiritual darkness. An unrepentant sinner should not be granted membership, whether that sin is practicing homosexuality or heterosexual adultery or anything else. Given the political nature of homosexuality, I would be loathe to even consider putting a practicing homosexual through the membership ritual without some assurance that he understands that homosexuality is NOT acceptable behavior for a member of the church.
I agree with your suggestion. Either this person will recognize their sinful nature and repent, as God calls them to do, or they will not. I think the pastor was wrong for refusing this person's chance to repent of their sin. If we start refusing sinners to attend church, it will be a lonely and empty building.
The problem is not that the practicing homosexual was not permitted to ATTEND church, neither is the issue that he was refused the chance to repent; it is that he was denied MEMBERSHIP in said congregation.
I used to be a Methodist, then I started doing some investigating. The Board of Church and Society is a group of Marxists, the Council of Bishops is not much better. They(United Methodists) are contributing members of the Mational Council of Churches, and the World Council of Churches. Both organizations have very deep Comnmunist/ Marxist ties. Check out discoverthenetwork.org to learn about NCC and WCC. here is a link to the board of church and society:http://archives.umc.org/frames.asp?url=http%3A//www.umc-gbcs.org