St. Paul’s United Methodist Church in State College is joining the “Reconciling Ministries Network,” a group meant to promote inclusiveness of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
This decision comes months before the United Methodist Church is expected to reconsider its controversial ban on same-sex weddings and the ordination of gay clergy in the church.
Since the United Methodist Church voted to uphold what it called “The Traditional Plan” four years ago, thousands of churches have decided to leave or break the rules. That’s according to the United Methodist News Service.
St. Paul’s in State College is still a United Methodist Church and follows its rules. That means the church does not perform same-sex weddings or ordain gay clergy. Despite that, St. Paul’s church officials say it is open to everyone in the LGBT community.
Greg Milinovich is the senior pastor. He said the church hasn’t discussed leaving the denomination, despite disagreements.
“When we disagree with something, our MO isn't to just run away and leave. It's to be a part of the family and find ways to continue to work it out," Milinovich said.
Milinovich said St. Paul’s held a vote and 93% of participants wanted to join the “Reconciling Ministries Network.” He said the United Methodist Church is meeting in the spring, and he expects the denomination to reverse its 2019 decision.
“So some folks said, ‘Why not just wait till then, and let the denomination do it for you?’ And our thought here was, we didn't want somebody else to do it for us, we wanted to kind of own our own stance and make sure our community knew that this is something we are deciding, not something that some group of people are deciding for us," Milinovich said.
Milinovich said since St. Paul’s decision to join the reconciling network several people have thanked the church for taking a stand. But he said some are probably still hesitant to come to the church.
“There's been so much hurt and trauma done by faith communities I think in a lot of different ways, but certainly in regards to sexuality. And so I think folks are hesitant and nervous, and rightfully so. But I hope that we're building a kind of family and community here," Milinovich said.
There are currently 1,433 ministries throughout five countries partnered with the Reconciling Ministries Network. You can find the full list on the network's website.
