Same-sex weddings and LGBTQ clergy are two of the topics front and center as the United Methodist Church opens it General Conference Tuesday in Charlotte, N.C. In recent years, the church — which is one of the largest Protestant groups in the U.S. — has seen many if its congregations leave over the issues.
Currently, the United Methodist Book of Discipline, the church's rule book, says "The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching." That sentence was added in 1972 during the rise of what was then called the gay rights movement. Elsewhere, the book also prohibits United Methodist clergy from performing same-sex weddings, and it says the church does not ordain LGBTQ clergy.
