Iowans who attend United Methodist churches are concerned about how the vote this week may bring dissension and splits in the nation’s second-largest Protestant Church. U-M-C leaders voted to strengthen rules against homosexual clergy and same-sex marriages. Reverend Jeff Flagg, pastor of Asbury United Methodist Church in Webster City, says it’s a global denomination.
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The decision passed by a margin of 53-to-47 at a conference in St. Louis attended by church officials and lay leaders. Flagg says he’s heard comments both for and against the ordaining of gay and lesbian ministers and whether or not to allow same-sex marriage services in the church.
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There are 12-million members of the United Methodist Church worldwide. In Iowa, there are more than 158,000 members of the church with 767 congregations statewide.