World Methodist Council Statement on Sexuality

As the United Methodist Church continues in General Conference and begins, yet again, its internal debates concerning issues of sexuality, I would point out that, in September of 2004, the Executive Committee of the World Methodist Council issued a statement on sexuality.  That statement continues to appear on the new WMC website in the Resources section.

The WMC statement is not long, nor is it an in depth theological study.  I would also point out that the churches of the World Methodist Council are understood to be completely autonomous denominations.  (The WMC is much different than the Anglican Communion, for example, and certainly far different from the Orthodox Churches or the Roman Catholic Church.)  No statement made by the WMC is binding on any of its member denominations.

However, having said that, the WMC statement may serve to remind the UMC that they are a part of the larger Wesleyan/Methodist family, and it is good to take into consideration the thoughts of their fellow Methodists from around the world.

The statement can be read, here.

I would suggest that this statement, along with statements by other Wesleyan/Methodist denominations, should be studied along side of, and to an even greater extent than the decisions of TEC, ELCA, PCUSA and UCC, to which a good number of UMs tend to point.

The position of my own denomination (and sister WMC member), the Church of the Nazarene, can be found, here.  It seems to be quite similar to the current position of the UMC.