UM News lists top five UMC stories of 2016
By Joey Butler
Dec. 19, 2016 | NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS)
With the election of the denomination’s first openly lesbian bishop and the creation of a special commission to examine church law on homosexuality, the ongoing debate over sexuality issues in The United Methodist Church was considered the top news story in 2016 by church communicators.
Photo: Bishop Bruce R. Ough, president of the Council of Bishops, leads the denomination in prayer on May 18, 2016 at General Conference 2016 in Portland, Oregon. Photo by Dave Stucke, Dakotas Conference Communications.
In a United Methodist News Service poll, coverage of the Commission on a Way Forward came in first place out of 34 ballots cast by communicators in the United States, Africa and Asia, along with News Service staff. Second was the Western Jurisdiction’s election of the Rev. Karen Oliveto, a married lesbian, as bishop.
The denomination’s global response to natural disasters was third, followed by the election of 15 new U.S. bishops and bishop elections in the central conferences. Fifth was the story of a Philippines United Methodist Church compound that gave sanctuary to 4,000 farmers and indigenous people following an outbreak of violence at a protest.
