La. UMC Delegates Deny Petition to Renounce Racism, Sexual SinBy Jim Brown
July 5, 2006(AgapePress) - Louisiana United Methodists have rejected a proposal that would have required members of the church to renounce racism, adultery, and both heterosexual and homosexual sex outside marriage.
The petition submitted by New Orleans pastor Dr. Woody Hingle would have affirmed that "local church membership in the United Methodist Church is open to all persons and requires repentance of sin, which includes racism, heterosexual sexual relations outside the marriage bond, and the practice of homosexuality." However, the measure was overwhelmingly rejected by delegates from the Louisiana UMC Annual Conference.
Hingle believes the petition failed because United Methodist delegates were uneasy about declaring that homosexuality is "incompatible with Christian teaching." But if they balked at that, he wonders what other biblical standards will be called into question.
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