The 1956 General Conference (GC) of the Methodist Church approved full clergy rights for women, 76 years after women first petitioned to be ordained. But it was not female GC delegates that swayed the vote, because men far out-numbered them. As Methodist theologian Georgia Harkness explained, the voice and vote of male delegates carried the day: “I purposely sat in silence, for there were able and discerning men to carry the issue, and I had long before learned that this is often the surest way to get something passed.”[1]
Although the United Methodist General Conference today is a far more diverse body, men remain the dominant voice and will likely determine the outcome of current conversations related to human sexuality. In 2016, men comprised 56% of General Conference delegates, a much smaller percentage than in years past, yet monitoring teams report that 73% of delegates who were called on to speak were men. Male dominance is just one of several roles that gender plays in the UMC’s discussions about sexuality.
Stereotypes of Gay Men
The differing portrayals of gay men and lesbians has been evident since the UMC first addressed homosexualty at its 1972 General Conference. Conversation that year centered on gay men as sexual predators who are a danger to young boys. Men comprised 87% of delegates that year, and in a lengthy debate, the only female voice was a clinical psychologist who argued against such a depiction. Nevertheless, delegates approved the statement: “We do not condone the practice of homosexuality and consider this practice incompatible with Christian teaching.”
The perceived threat that gay men pose to children masks deeper resistance to the breakdown of social structures. Both men and women fear that the acceptance of homosexuality will erode gender norms, as well as marriage and traditional family structures. For many men, this is intensified by the idea of one man being penetrated by another, which is reflected in male delegates’ description of homosexuality as “perversion” or “debauchery.” While the rationale behind anti-gay ideology is complex, there is clearly a threat to male gender identity.
Charges against Gay Clergy
This strong aversion to gay men was apparent in several complaints against gay male clergy, leading the 1984 General Conference to prohibit the ordination and appointment of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals.” Since that time, however, the most public complaints and trials of openly gay clergy have involved women. Rose Mary Denman, who came out in 1987, was removed from ministry, as was Beth Stroud in 2004. However, a 1994 Judicial Council ruling allowed Jeanne Knepper to be ordained, and a clergy jury in 2004 found that Karen Dammann was not guilty of any chargeable offense. Amy DeLong was acquitted on the charge of being openly gay, and suspended for twenty days for performing a same-sex union.
In 2016 the Clergy Session of the Baltimore Washinton Conference did not approve T.C. Morrow to be ordained as a deacon The same year, after coming out to her congregation, Cynthia Meyer agreed to an involuntary leave of absence to avert a church trial. In a complex ruling, the Judicial Council this year found the UMC’s first openly gay bishop, Karen Oliveto, to be in good standing.[2] During this time, there was only one well known case involving an openly gay man.[3]
There is no clear reason why so many more female clergy than male have been charged, which is even more striking given that three quarters of ordained UMC clergy are men. In many cases, no doubt, charges against women represent an ongoing gender bias. Sixty years after gaining full clergy right, clergywomen still encounter resistance to their leadership, and lesbians are disadvantaged by both their gender and their sexual identity.
However, the question might not be why do so many women come out, but rather, why don’t more men? Men who remain closeted enjoy the authority that male clergy reap, without the stigma of being gay. French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu describes such power as symbolic capital, which we accrue because of our social identities and location, and from which we benefit without being aware of it. Thus, men who are presumed heterosexual may (unconsciously) be less willing to test the boundary of feminization that is connected to gay men. Whether or not they’re aware of it, women have less to lose.
White Straight Men
Interestingly, the highest profile cases of clergy performing same-sex unions or marriages in violation of UMC policy have involved men, from Jimmy Creech and Greg Dell in 1997, to Thomas Ogletree and Frank Schaeffer, who were both charged in the 2010s for performing marriages for their sons. These white, presumably heterosexual men used their social capital to stand against what they viewed as an unjust policy. Although they risked their status as ordained UMC clergy, they retained their symbolic capital as white straight men, regardless of their case’s outcome.
Other white, straight men have taken a lead in seeking common ground that can allow the UMC to remain “united.” Mega-church pastors Adam Hamilton and Mike Slaughter have spoken, written, and proposed legislation to this end. Bishops Thomas Bickerton and William Willimon, and UMC pastor Wil Cantrell have published books that seek middle ground and address the fears that may be holding back those on both sides. Their attempts to find middle ground reflect their concern for institutional preservation and their willingness to use their symbolic capital to forge a compromise.
More Complexity
Yet another aspect of how gender plays into the UMC’s consideration of human sexuality relates to people who are transgender or transexual. Their visibility in society is increasing, but the UMC has no official policy about their ordination, and openly trans clergy Rebecca Steen (2002), Drew Phoenix (2007), and David Weekley (2009) have met with different responses. Just this summer, Rev. M Barclay became the first openly “non-binary trans person” to be commissioned, the first step in being ordained as a United Methodist deacon.
These cases reflect the growing understanding that biological sex, socially constructed gender, and sexual orientation are far more complex than the binary assumptions that people are either men or women, male or female, and gay or straight. Many United Methodists celebrate this diversity and embrace the richness of human experience it represents. For others, acceptance of these identities represents a dangerous departure from long-established human relationships and social institutions that reflect God’s order. If history is any indication, white, presumably heterosexual men will be key to crafting a resolution of these differences.
[1] Georgia Harkness. Women in Church and Society: A Historical and Theological Inquiry. Nashville: Abingdon, 1972, 30.
[2] See June 1 post “The Verdict.”
[3] Mark Williams, 2001.