A United Methodist megachurch (UMC) in Dallas, Texas, has decided not to allow its facilities to be used to host same-sex weddings. The announcement comes in response to a denomination-wide directive in early May removing the long-standing rule banning same-sex weddings and the ordination of clergy who identify as LGBTQ.
Rev. Paul Rasmussen addresses his congregation / Video screenshot
The pastor of Highland Park UMC Dallas Paul Rasmussen released a video addressing his congregation. In it, he explained that even though the General Conference, held in Charlotte, N.C., in early May, voted overwhelmingly to rescind the ban on same-sex weddings and on the ordination of clergy who identify as LGBTQ, the legislative body’s directive did not require a UMC congregation to follow suit.
“There is neither an invitation nor a mandate for us to change from the church we have always been,” he said. Over the last 108 years and through 13 different senior ministers, the church has maintained the “traditional definition and understanding of Christian marriage,” Rasmussen said.
He said the church would continue to uphold traditional marriage in its worship services and facilities. However, he added that clergy could follow their conscience and perform same-sex unions at other venues.
“We’ve always been a ‘big tent’ centrist church,” he added. “Now, for the first time, our clergy will be allowed to serve the young men and women in our church who…long to be connected and tethered to their clergy when it comes to their wedding.”
He also affirmed the General Conference’s decision to remove “the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching” from the denomination’s Book of Discipline, calling it a “very, very good thing.”
“I cannot imagine, as a person in the LGBTQ community that would want to step into our church, if before they even sit in a pew somehow think they are incompatible with everybody else around them,” he said. “This church has always been open and affirming to our friends, neighbors and family in the LGBTQ community.” He said people who identify as LGBTQ can serve at Highland in volunteer leadership and can be elected to serve in the committee structure “all the way to the highest level.”
“That’s the nature of our church,” he said.
The line in the Book of Discipline, under Qualifications for Ordination, actually reads: “The practice of homosexuality is incompatible
Rasmussen went on to discuss the ordination of clergy involved in same-sex relationships and the possibility of such a pastoral assignment to the church. He clarified that by going through official channels, the congregation still had a say in determining the appointed clergy.
UMC North Texas Conference Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr., whose regional body includes Highland Park UMC, also weighed in on the new ruling, indicating a willingness to accept and tolerate a difference of views on LGBTQ issues among the congregations he presided over. He noted that every church—conservative, centrist or progressive—would adapt to the unique mission field and minister to the community it seeks to serve.
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