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Celebrating a vote
Lea Mathews (center) celebrates The United Methodist Church’s removal of its ban on the ordination of clergy who are “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” — a prohibition that dates to 1984, during the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. Behind her is the Rev. K Karpen (in blue cap), senior pastor of Saint Paul and Saint Andrew UMC in New York City. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News)
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To the Seventh Generation
Bishop David Wilson, the first Native American to be elected a United Methodist bishop, exhorts the crowd to think on to the "seventh generation" as it reforms The United Methodist Church during May 1morning worship of the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. Bishop Wilson leads the Great Plains Annual Conferece in Kansas and Nebraska. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey/UM News)
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Paul Jeffrey Paul Jeffrey/UM News
Memorial stones
During a May 1 memorial service, participants in the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., dropped stones into a bowl of water, one stone for each bishop and other church leader they named. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey/UM News)
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Philippines Choir
Members of The Philippine Choir sing “God’s Great Faithfulness” during May 1 morning worship at the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., 2024. (Photo by Larry McCormack, UM News)
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Methodist Family Day
Bishop Jeffrey Leath brings greetings to the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C., during Methodist Family Day, a celebration of the many Methodist churches linked with The United Methodist Church. Leath is the ecumenical officer for the African Methodist Episcopal Church. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News.)
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Paul Jeffrey Paul Jeffrey/UM News
Gratitude and Tears
Izzy Alvaran (left), Scott Christy, and Andy Oliver weep and pray together on May 1 after the 2024 United Methodist General Conference, meeting in Charlotte, N.C., voted to remove the denomination's ban on the ordination of clergy who are "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" — a prohibition that dated to 1984. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey/UM News)
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Bishop Celebrates
Retired Bishop Peggy A. Johnson, serving as interim bishop of the New England Annual Conference, joins delegates in celebrating the repeal of the 40-year-old ban on ordaining LGBTQ persons as United Methodist clergy. (Eastern Pennsylvania Conference Photo)
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Plea for More Disaffiliation
Dixie Brewster of the Great Plains Conference argues for retention of Paragraph 2553, the disaffiliation clause added by the special called 2019 General Conference during the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. Delegates voted overwhelmingly to remove the paragraph under which some 9,000 local churches have now left the denomination. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News)
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Against Regionalization
The Rev. Jerry Kulah of Liberia, coordinator of the Wesleyan Covenant Association's Africa Initiative, argues against regionalization during the May 1 plenary session of the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News)
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Regionalization's Final Step
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the Virginia Annual Conference views the results of a vote approving final step necessary to implement a worldwide plan of regionalization of the United Methodist Church. She presided over a May 1 plenary session of the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. (Photo by Paul Jeffrey/UM News)
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Complicated Elections
Bishop Cynthia Fierro Harvey (right) presides over the election of Judicial Council members during the 2024 United Methodist General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. The complicated election process consumed most of the final session of the May 1 plenary. (Photo by Mike DuBose, UM News)
Celebration broke out the morning of May 1 when delegates to the postponed 2020 General Conference overwhelmingly repealed The United Methodist Church's 40-year-old ban on ordaining LGBTQ persons as clergy. The day also saw the completion of the final step to restructure the UMC into regions roughly corresponding to continents where the church located.