FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 10, 2025
GCAH’s Center for LGBTQ+ UM Heritage marks anniversary of landmark General Conference action
May 1 event celebrates removal of harmful language from Book of Discipline
Madison, N.J. – Defrocked clergy who have had their credentials restored will be among those celebrated when the General Commission on Archives and History’s Center for LGBTQ+ United Methodist Heritage gathers May 1 to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the date when General Conference action led to a lifting of the ban on ordination of LGBTQ+ persons, as well as removing a funding ban on LGBTQ+ ministries.
The event will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 1, at Greenland Hills United Methodist Church in Dallas. The celebration, which is co-sponsored by the Center for LGBTQ+ UM Heritage and Greenland Hills UMC, also will be livestreamed via YouTube.
“As we celebrate the one-year anniversary of the removal of the anti-LGBTQ+ language, our rejoicing is tempered by all the lives that have been harmed by this language and all the calls to ministry that were denied,” says (Retired) Bishop Karen Oliveto. “As the church continues to move into a fully inclusive future, may we learn from the past so that every child of God will find a place of love, support and nurture in our United Methodist churches.”
Oliveto, the inaugural board chairperson of the Center for LGBTQ+ United Methodist Heritage, is a featured speaker along with Rev. Carol Montgomery, an ordained elder in the Horizon Texas Conference, and the sole proprietor of Congregational Engagement Partners, an extension ministry serving congregations in the areas of strategy, generosity, and vision; and Dr. Ashley Boggan, GCAH general secretary.
“As I reflect on the May 1, 2024, General Conference events, specifically the removal of The UMC’s ban on the ordination of clergy who are ‘self-avowed practicing homosexuals’ and related legislation that removed a funding ban on LGBTQ+ ministries, I am aware that the past year has opened opportunities as well as reinforced challenges for our denomination,” Boggan said. “We celebrate the one-year anniversary of the day when The United Methodist Church, for the first time in the denomination’s 240-year history, has no category of people excluded from serving the various ministries and missions of the church. We joyfully recognize this historic moment as we remain committed to fully live into our new reality.”
In addition to the speakers and recognition of LGBTQ+ persons who have had their clergy credentials restored since the lifting of the ban, the event will recognize financial gifts donated to the Center. Online giving to the Center is available at the link.
A reception will follow the event.
For more information about GCAH and the Center for LGBTQ+ UM Heritage, visit ResourceUMC.org/ArchivesandHistory.