United Methodist Church Reverses Ban on Practicing Gay Clergy The New York Times

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• United Methodist Church Reverses Ban on Practicing Gay Clergy
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• Pulse-pounding video shows moment shootout breaks out, leaving 4 law enforcement officers dead near Charlotte

In Texas, for example, a historic stronghold, more than 40 percent of United Methodist congregations left the denomination. Some joined the breakaway conservative Global Methodist Church, while others have remained independent. At their most recent meeting in 2019, Methodists voted to tighten an existing ban on same-sex marriages and gay and lesbian clergy. Wednesday’s vote follows years of turmoil in the denomination over sexuality, an issue that has prompted tumultuous debates and schisms in other Christian traditions and institutions. Delegates also voted this week to end a ban on using United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality,” a change particularly welcomed by those in ministries working with L.G.B.T.Q. people.

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Further votes affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday. One other member of the task force, which is made up of federal agents and other officers from across the region was injured. The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction identified two of the task force officers killed as Sam Poloche and Alden Elliot. An agent with the US Marshals and three police officers were gunned down in a hail of bullets after the wanted suspect, Terry Clark Hughes Jr, 39, opened fire on them outside the home in Charlotte on Monday afternoon, cops said. Dramatic video has emerged of the moment a shootout broke out in North Carolina that slaughtered four law enforcement officers and wounded several others as they tried to serve a warrant on a felon.

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United Methodist Church Reverses Ban on Practicing Gay Clergy

This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. Chet Jechura, the pastor of Good Shepherd UMC in Baltimore, wept as he watched the vote at home via livestream. Almost exactly five years ago, when the denomination tightened enforcement of its ban against gay clergy, he had broken into sobs while he was serving communion.

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“This is certainly the lightning rod issue, the presenting issue, but our division goes so much deeper,” said Rob Renfroe, the president of Good News, a traditionalist caucus within the United Methodist Church. He described sexuality as a proxy issue for larger debates in the church about the authority of the Bible, the reality of sin and beliefs about salvation. The United Methodist Church is the second-largest Protestant denomination in the nation; the Southern Baptist Convention is the biggest. There were 5.4 million Methodists in the United States in 2022, a steep decline from just a few years earlier, and a number that is expected to drop again once last year’s accelerated departures are counted. In March 2007, two Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers were killed while responding to a domestic dispute by someone not directly involved in the fight. Demeatrius Antonio Montgomery is serving a life sentence in the killings of officers Jeffrey Shelton and Sean Clark.

In a meeting on Wednesday, church leaders also voted to allow L.G.B.T.Q. weddings. The last marshal shot and killed in the line of duty was in November 2018. Chase White was shot in Tucson, Arizona, by a man wanted for stalking local law enforcement officers, the agency said. Three other Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers who responded to the scene were shot while trying to rescue the wounded officers. Armored vehicles smashed into it, ripping off windows and entire doorways that were left broken. Several armored vehicles were parked across yards, some with tree branches dangling off them.

law officers serving warrant are killed, 4 wounded in shootout at North Carolina home, police say

One of the task force members, which is made up of federal agents and other officers from across the region, was injured, as well as three other Charlotte-Mecklenburg cops. A second person then started pumping bullets from inside the home and some of the officers who rushed to the scene to rescue the first wave of downed officers were wounded, Jennings added. Mr. Renfroe is attending the meeting in Charlotte but says that given the outcome, he will leave the denomination within the next month. He cautioned that many denominations that have moved in the direction that Methodists have taken this week have seen their numbers dramatically decline.

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A second person then fired on officers from inside the home where a high-powered rifle was found, Jennings added. There are no songs in this setlist because the concert hasn't started yet. And we pray for the recoveries of the courageous officers who were wounded,” he added. The bloodshed — the deadliest day for US law enforcement in a single incident since 2016 — erupted as Marshals approached the home to serve Clark Hughes Jr with a warrant for possessing a firearm. Meanwhile, another clip showed a truck driver filming multiple officers fleeing and calling for those nearby to seek cover as gunfire rang out in the background. The officers could be heard repeatedly shouting for the man to get inside.

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Last week, the conference approved the first phrase of a “regionalization” plan that would restructure the global denomination to give different regions autonomy on adapting rules on issues including sexuality. The move is seen as a way to defuse tensions between the increasingly progressive American church and more conservative factions internationally. Delegates, meeting in Charlotte, N.C., also voted to bar local leaders from penalizing clergy or churches for holding, or declining to hold, same-sex weddings. The vote effectively allows same-sex marriage in the church for the first time, although the original penalty was already unevenly enforced. Many conservatives had been disturbed by what they saw as the church’s failure to enforce its bans on gay clergy and same-sex weddings. Some leaders in more progressive regions had begun defying the restrictions, and the church now has a number of openly gay clergy and two gay bishops.

The overturning of the 40-year-old ban on “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” passed overwhelmingly and without debate in a package of measures that had already received strong support at the committee level. Another neighbor, William Cunningham, was moved to tears as he sat on his porch. He said he is a veteran of Operation Desert Storm but never expected such violence in his own neighborhood. The neighborhood, of one– and two-story, brick homes and small trimmed lawns, is very safe, said Alex Rivera, who lives on a street nearby. Rissa Reign was cleaning her house when she heard the first shots ring out.

“We have a huge opportunity in front of us.” Ms. Lawrence noted that not only were all the group’s goals for the meetings likely to be achieved, but they were doing so in at atmosphere that was notably agreeable, even joyful. The Carolinas Regional Fugitive Task Force is headquartered in Charlotte and comprised of 70 federal, state and local agencies. Fugitive task forces are collaborations between agencies to find and arrest suspects in crimes. President Joe Biden was briefed on the shooting and spoke with Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles to express his condolences and support for the community. WSOC-TV said their helicopter captured an armored vehicle driving through yards and knocking over recycling bins before officers removed a person with blood on their shirt who was then loaded into an ambulance. Two officers from the state Department of Adult Correction also were killed, said North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper.

In one video, a man could be heard begging for someone to unlock the door to a home as he filmed two armed officers hiding behind a car in his yard as they fired off a barrage of bullets.

“Today we lost some heroes who were out simply trying to keep our community safe,” Jennings said at a news conference. As he backed away to safety, officers could be seen rushing at least one injured colleague from the scene. Several neighbors managed to capture the terror as officers scrambled to seek cover and heavily-armed law enforcement started returning fire with snipers. Earn credits and get access to exclusive offers just for going out to the movies. “The energy that’s gone into preparing for and trying to get to this moment can now be refocused,” said Jan Lawrence, the executive director of Reconciling Ministries Network, a group that advocates for full inclusion in the church.

The governor was in Charlotte and was speaking to the families of the officers killed and hurt. Armored vehicles subsequently smashed into the home, ripping off windows and entire doorways that were left broken. On the floor of the meeting after the vote on Wednesday morning, the mood was equally jubilant.

(AP) — Four police officers serving a warrant for a felon wanted for possessing a firearm were killed and four other officers were wounded in a shootout Monday at a North Carolina home, police said. Conservatives in the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, for example, have formed breakaway denominations in reaction to the acceptance of gay clergy. Catholic Church doctrine forbids same-sex relationships, but Pope Francis has alarmed some traditionalists by allowing priests to bless same-sex couples. Many conservative congregations accepted the offer, prompting an extraordinary decline for the geographically and culturally diverse denomination. Though the end of the ban on gay clergy applies to the global church, regionalization means that in practice it may primarily affect churches in the United States.