Happy hugs
Jesi Lipp, a lay delegate from the Great Plains Conference, gets a hug after General Conference delegates voted to remove The United Methodist Church’s ban on gay clergy during the church’s legislative assembly in Charlotte, N.C., on May 1. (Photo by Larry McCormack, UM News)
The event will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at Greenland Hills United Methodist Church in Dallas. The celebration, which is co-sponsored by the Center for LGBTQ+ UM Heritage and Greenland Hills UMC, also will be livestreamed via YouTube.
“As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the removal of the anti-LGBTQ+ language, our rejoicing is tempered by all the lives that have been harmed by this language and all the calls to ministry that were denied,” says retired Bishop Karen Oliveto. “As the church continues to move into a fully inclusive future, may we learn from the past so that every child of God will find a place of love, support and nurture in our United Methodist churches.”
Oliveto, the inaugural board chairperson of the Center for LGBTQ+ United Methodist Heritage, is a featured speaker along with the Rev. Carol Montgomery, an ordained elder in the Horizon Texas Conference, and the sole proprietor of Congregational Engagement Partners, an extension ministry serving congregations in the areas of strategy, generosity, and vision; and Dr. Ashley Boggan, GCAH general secretary.
“As I reflect on the May 1, 2024, General Conference events, specifically the removal of The UMC’s ban on the ordination of clergy who are ‘self-avowed practicing homosexuals’ and related legislation that removed a funding ban on LGBTQ+ ministries, I am aware that the past year has opened opportunities as well as reinforced challenges for our denomination,” Boggan said. “We celebrate the one-year anniversary of the day when The United Methodist Church, for the first time in the denomination’s 240-year history, has no category of people excluded from serving the various ministries and missions of the church. We joyfully recognize this historic moment as we remain committed to fully live into our new reality.”
In addition to the speakers and recognition of LGBTQ+ persons who have had their clergy credentials restored since the lifting of the ban, the event will recognize financial gifts donated to the Center. Online giving to the Center is available at the link.
A reception and After Party is set for 8:30 pm. CT at the Sundown at the Granada in Dallas with live entertainment.
For more information about GCAH and the Center for LGBTQ+ UM Heritage, visit ResourceUMC.org/ArchivesandHistory.