OLUMC to ordain two LGBTQ pastors
Church will go through with ordination despite refusal from the bishop DAVID TAFFET | Senior Staff Writertaffet@dallasvoice.com Oak Lawn United Methodist Church’s pastors and congregation are set to perform an act of sacred resistance at this Sunday’s Sabbath service after the local bishop refused to appoint two qualified candidates as associate pastors.
The reason for the bishop’s refusal is that is both Ryan Wagner and Isabel Marquez are in same-sex marriages. The Rev. Rachel Baughman, senior pastor at Oak Lawn UMC, said both were married when they were allowed to enter the ministerial program.
The United Methodist Church has been split over same-sex marriage for a number of years. It’s been the main topic of contention at each of the UMC conventions in recent years.
Rather than coming to a compromise that would allow each church or diocese to decide whether to recognize these relationships, the church seems headed for a split.
