In the midst of the lie by some bishops that our church is one body united in hospitality and love, the people who risked arrest spoke the truth in love. We are not one body, we are a broken and wounded body, and our wounds are bleeding." -- Katherine Johnson, Executive Director of the Methodist Federation for Social Action, May 11, 2000

May 2-12, 2000

   At each General Conference, the United Methodist Church's Book of Discipline and Book of Resolutions are revised. Delegates make decisions about many concerns, including ones that affect lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people (LGBT) within and outside of the UMC. The most recent General Conference continued the denomination's oppression of LGBT people.

Affirmation's Newsletters

• More News
• Affirmation Newsletter, Post-General Conference Edition
• Affirm! Table Manners (all daily General Conference newsletters, Word format, zipped 120,000 bytes)
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 11, 2000
• Bishops Voice Optimism for Church's Future, UMNS, May 10, 2000
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 10, 2000
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 9, 2000
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 8, 2000
• WordFast by Doug Little, Reflections on his participating in this fast of silence, General Conference, May 6
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 6, 2000
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 5, 2000
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 4, 2000
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 3, 2000
• Affirm! Table Manners, General Conference Newsletter, May 2, 2000 (Photo Added May 4)

Legislation

• Proposed Disciplinary Changes for General Conference 2000: Affirmation
• Heterosexism: MFSA Plumbline
• Human Sexuality: General Board of Church and Society's Recommendations for Changes in the Social Principles

News and Personal Stories

May

• Affirmation's General Conference Daily Newsletters
• General Conference Hotlinks (pop up)
• General Conference Is "Disrupted" and Called into Accountability, by AMAR, May 11, 2000
• Civil Disobedience Dramatizes Frustration and Anger Regarding Votes to Continue to Discriminate Against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Persons, by AMAR, May 11, 2000
• Bishop, 170 Others Arrested in Protest Over Church’s Gay Policies, UMNS, May 10, 2000
• Photos of the Protest, UMNS, May 10, 2000
• The World Watches as The United Methodist Church Responds to Opportunity to Welcome Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Persons, AMAR, May 10, 2000
• A Call to Action in Alliance with the Soulforce Demonstration, AMAR, May 9, 2000
• Demonstrators Rally Against Church's Anti-homosexual Policies, UMNS, May 6, 2000
• Shower of Stoles Highlights Powerful Stories, AMAR, May 5, 2000
• A Shower of Stoles: Troy Plummer, story of the Rev. Troy Plummer's stole with pictures of him wearing the stole and of it on display at General Conference
• Church Will Draw Closer on Homosexuality Issue, Bishop Oden Says, UMNS, May 5, 2000
• Church Is 'Hanging on for Dear Life,' Bishop Huie Says, UMNS, May 5, 2000
• The Rev. Joseph E. Lowery, Former President of SCLC Signs the United Methodists of Color for a Fully Inclusive Church Statement, May 4, 2000
• Friends of the Reconciling Congregation Program to Surround General Conference Delegates with an Unbroken Circle of Love, AMAR, May 3, 2000
• A Global Church Does Not Accept Homosexuality, Kulah Says, UMNS, May 3, 2000

  April

• United Methodists of Color Speak Out for an Inclusive Church, AMAR, April 20, 2000
  People of color in the United Methodist Church are being asked to sign the statement or by emailing dan@rcp.org.
• LGBT Activists and Allies Prepare to Rally in Cleveland, AMAR, April 10, 2000
• Faith Journey of Judith J. WestLee, co-convener of Affirmation

  February

• AMAR Coalition Responds: "Proposal To Do Nothing at General Conference is Not Acceptable," AMAR, February 28, 2000
• "I was wrong," Bishop Says, Friends of Bishop Tuell, February 23, 2000
  After Greg Dell's trial, Bishop Jack Tuell took a new look at homosexuality, concluded United Methodist stance is wrong
• "Doing a New Thing": The United Methodist Church and Homosexuality, sermon by Bishop Jack M. Tuell, February 20, 2000
  Bishop Tuell conducted the trial of Greg Dell. He says, "Look, the sovereign message of the Bible is God's redeeming, all-powerful love that overrides all else, and places specific prohibitions in the context of the time and place and situation in which they were written."

  January

• Delegates rank CPT, homosexuality top issues for conference, UMNS, January 31, 2000
• Fire, flood, storm do not stop pre-conference briefing, January 18, 2000
  News story giving the context of Let My People In! (below)
• Let My People In! a speech by Jeanne Knepper
  The United Methodist Church participates in the creation of this violent culture through its words, through its continued promotion of a lie, that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.
• Speak to these bones that they may live!, a moving response to Jeanne Knepper's written version of her speech