Unity of the Church and Human Sexuality: Toward a Faithful United Methodist Witness

Synopsis

Throughout Their Histories, The United Methodist Church And Its Predecessor Bodies Have Faced Circumstances When Deeply Committed Followers Held Widely Divergent Views On One Or More Pressing Issues Of The Day. Clergy And Laity Alike Genuinely And Profoundly Disagreed On What Being A Faithful Christian In The Wesleyan Tradition Required Of The Church In Relation To Those Critical Issues.methodism Itself Was Born And Grew Amid Controversy As John Wesley Addressed The Most Contentious Issues Of His Day And Strove To Hold The Methodist Societies Together Across Many Lines Of Difference. The Same Was True For Francis Asbury In The Early Years Of Methodism In America.sometimes The Wesleyan Connection Has Found Ways Of Living With And Through These Deep Divisions Without Organizational Ruptures. At Other Times, It Has Separated Into New Ecclesial Structures That Embodied Distinctive And Contending Perspectives. Some Organizational Ruptures Have Healed Across Time, With The Long-standing Wesleyan Commitment To Christian Unity Guiding Determined, Dedicated, And Creative Efforts To Bring Different Denominations Back Together In Unity. Other Ruptures Gave Birth To Organizational Separations That Persist In Distinctive Denominations.