Recently, the global United Methodist Church repealed its 50-year ban on LGBTQ clergy, and approved new language opening doors for same-sex marriages.
But, the United Methodist Church in Liberia Annual Conference is said to not be taking a definite position since the latest decision of the global annual conference of the United Methodist Church legalizing same-sex marriage across its denomination.
At a news conference in Monrovia on Wednesday, the Chairperson of the Board of Ordained Ministry, George Wilson accused the Bishop Samuel Quire of misinforming United Methodists on the decision of the general conference.
Dr. Wilson added that the global denomination wholeheartedly endorsed the practice of same sex marriage and homosexuality across all of its churches worldwide, and the need to provide a definite position as with the Liberia Annual Conference cannot be overly stated.
According to him, Bishop Quire is not listening to the elders of the church who have vehemently opposed sex-sex activities across the Methodist denomination; a situation he stated, has plunged the United Methodist Church into crisis.
Report also revealed that Bishop Quire suspended Dr. Wilson, and Dr. James Labala, the Conference Secretary of the Liberia Annul Conference of the United Methodist Church has taken several administrative actions including suspensions of critical voices that have opposed the global conference decision..
Furthermore, Bishop Quire has allegedly threatened to ex-communicate members that will insist on discussing the church in the public which is why those concern Methodists have decided to call on the Liberia Council of Churches to intervene in ensuring that Bishop Quire provide a definite position on the church in relations to homosexuality.
When contacted, Bishop Quire disagreed reluctantly to comment on the matter.
Meanwhile, the last time the United Methodists met to discuss and vote on these issues was back in 2019, and there was a lot of disagreement, a lot of anger and the sense the church was heading toward a schism. They were supposed to come together again in 2020 to finalize these big decisions but, then the pandemic intervened and the 2020 meeting was postponed until now.
The United Methodist Church’s General Conference, held in Charlotte, North Carolina, from April 23 to May 3, 2024, acted to remove language from the Book of Discipline that restricted or singled out non-heterosexual people for disparate treatment. Delegates voted 692-51 to repeal the church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy, marking a significant shift in church policy.
This decision come after the United Methodist denomination, previously the third largest in the United States, experienced a historic split as about one-quarter of U.S. congregations left between 2019 and 2023, mostly conservative churches dismayed by the denomination’s lack of enforcement of its longstanding LGBTQ bans.
With the absence of many conservative delegates, progressive delegates have moved quickly to reverse such policies, potentially prompting departures of some international churches, particularly in Africa, where conservative sexual values prevail, and same-sex activity is criminalized in some countries.
However, the United Methodist Church in Liberia’s position on homosexuality remains that the church will not conduct any weddings or ordinations of self-avowed and practicing lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) individuals in Liberia.
Addressing concerns and misconceptions about the church in Liberia’s stance on LGBTQ issues, Bishop Quire reaffirmed the church’s commitment to traditional Christian teachings on homosexuality.
“Whether regionalization is ratified or not, the Liberia Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church will not conduct any weddings or ordinations of self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” said Bishop Quire.
“To all United Methodists in Liberia and our Liberian public, the United Methodist Church is not a GAY Church! It is a strong Church of God ministering to sinners who need the saving knowledge and grace of God! It is a worldwide denomination making a significant impact on our world,” he announced.
