UPDATE TO ADD COMMENT FROM THE REV. KIPP NELSON, St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami: “It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts. Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”

Delegates to the United Methodist Church’s General Conference today (Wednesday, May 1) voted overwhelmingly to repeal the denomination’s ban on LGBTQ people serving as clergy, according to CBS News. The 692-51 vote to remove the rule prohibiting “self-avowed practicing homosexuals from being ordained or appointed as ministers happened with no debate.

This was the UMC’s first General Conference in five years. As CBS News notes, “Past General Conferences … had steadily reinforced the ban and related penalties amid debate and protests, but many of the conservatives who had previously upheld the ban have left the denomination in recent years, and this General Conference has moved in a solidly progressive direction.

The vote was met with widespread applause and even some tears from LGBTQ folks in the convention hall, CBS noted, adding that the change takes effect immediately upon the conclusion of General Conference, scheduled for Friday, May 3.

Delegates also approved a measure prohibiting district superintendents from penalizing clergy for either performing a same-sex wedding or for refraining from performing one, and prohibiting superintendents from forbidding or requiring a church from hosting a same-sex wedding.­­

— Tammye Nash