4 'woke' moments from UMC General Conference

By CP Staff, Monday, May 06, 2024

Lesbian bishop gives a sermon

United Methodist Church Bishop Karen Oliveto preaches a sermon at First United Methodist Church of Charlotte, North Carolina, on April 28, 2024, during the UMC General Conference. Oliveto's election was ruled invalid by the United Methodist Judicial Council in 2017 due to her being in a same-sex marriage. However, she has remained a bishop of the UMC Mountain Sky Episcopal Area. | Paul Jeffrey/UM News

Bishop Karen Oliveto of the UMC Mountain Sky Area preached a sermon during the General Conference before the delegates voted to allow gay marriage and noncelibate gay clergy.

Although Oliveto’s election had been ruled invalid by the UMC's highest court in 2017 due to her being in a same-sex marriage, she continued to serve as a bishop over the years.

Oliveto asked if General Conference delegates were “willing to make God’s love visible in all you do” and would “meet and serve Jesus in the outcast, the downcast, and the cast aside.”

“Are you willing to meet and serve Jesus in the transgender person who has taken a deeply spiritual journey to claim their God-created self?” she said.

“Are you willing to meet and serve Jesus in the queer clergy person who has been faithful to God’s call even when the Church has tried to deny that call?”