Well, the ELCA did several “studies” about human sexuality until they were able to create the loophole they were searching for. I predict that the UMC will find one too so that they can allow homosexual marriages and still sleep at night. Instead of exploring options to strengthen unity maybe they should seek to strengthen purity within the church. One day God will separate the goats from the sheep and there will be no unity only purity and holiness. I wonder if God will send them a lightning bolt to help them see how seriously He will judge their heresy.
I was raised Presbyterian (in fact my father was a minister). Since he was the pastor of a small country church, I had no idea that the Presbyterian Church USA had gotten so liberal until GHWB was running against Dukakis and the Presbyterian Survey published the platform of each candidate along with the church’s position on the same issues. There was not a dime’s worth of difference between that of the church and Dukakis’s position! That is the reason that I became a Methodist once my children were born. The denomination has been through several of these “gay crises” in the over 25 years that I have been a member and I was sorry to find when this meeting was announced that the issue was not “settled” as I thought it had been several years ago. My wish is that they leave the Book of Discipline as it is, but we shall see what happens!