United Methodists tried to come to terms with a General Conference that was meant to unify but instead underscored divisions and had all sides acknowledging a high level of pain.<\/p>\n
\u201cCatastrophic\u201d was the summary judgment of the Rev. James Howell, a Western North Carolina Conference delegate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe church as we\u2019ve known it will not be. It\u2019s going to fracture in ways \u2014 different ways,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Patricia Miller served on the Commission on a Way Forward that bishops appointed to help come up with legislative options for addressing the denomination\u2019s impasse on homosexuality, and the Traditionalist Plan she supported prevailed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no joy for any of us in this whole debate,\u201d said Miller. \u201cIt\u2019s painful for all of us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The special legislative session was called by bishops to try to deal with the denomination\u2019s long conflict over how accepting to be of homosexuality. General Conference is The United Methodist Church\u2019s top legislative assembly, comprising delegates from around the world.<\/p>\n
In the end, delegates passed by a 438-384 margin the Traditional Plan, which retains church law restrictions against…[homosexual practice] and seeks stricter enforcement.<\/p>\n