News brief

Associated Press

United Methodist church lifts anti-LGBTQ bans. United Methodist delegates have begun making historic policy changes on sexuality, voting without debate to reverse a series of anti-LGBTQ policies. The delegates voted to delete mandatory penalties for clergy conducting same-sex marriages. They also removed their denomination’s bans on considering LGBTQ candidates for ministry and on funding for gay-friendly ministries. The actions follow a historic schism in what was long the third-largest denomination in the United States. About one-quarter of U.S. congregations left between 2019 and 2023, mostly conservative churches dismayed that the denomination wasn’t enforcing its longstanding LGBTQ bans.