The United Methodist Church\u2019s top court has found that while some provisions of the newly adopted Traditional Plan remain unconstitutional, the rest of the plan is valid as church law.<\/p>\n
That was the Judicial Council\u2019s ruling on a requested review of the Traditional Plan, which was approved during a special denomination-wide legislative session<\/a> in February to strengthen enforcement of bans on \u201cself-avowed practicing\u201d gay clergy and same-sex weddings.<\/p>\n In a separate ruling, legislation to provide an exit strategy for local churches wishing to leave the denomination meets three minimum requirements and thus is constitutional \u201cwhen taken together with the consent of the annual conference\u201d as specifically outlined in the Book of Discipline, the court said.<\/p>\n Both decisions came at the conclusion of the Judicial Council\u2019s April 23-26 meeting<\/a>.<\/p>\n Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n UMC top court OKs part of Traditional Plan, church exit plan https:\/\/t.co\/dZnoNVxuCQ<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/H1hZPmsn1F<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 EPA Conference UMC (@epaumc) April 26, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n