The United Methodist Church General Conference has voted to remove a statement from its central rulebook that declared that homosexuality was "incompatible with Christian teaching." In a vote of 523 to 161 following around 90 minutes of debate on Thursday, the churchwide legislative gathering opted to remove a clause from the Book of Discipline, ¶ 304.3 under "Qualifications for Ordination."
"The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching," read the clause, which had been originally added to the Book of Discipline in 1972.