INDIANAPOLIS — The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) has added disciplinary measures to its church law that declare that ministers cannot perform same-sex “marriage” ceremonies.
“No minister, whether itinerant or local, shall perform any marriage ceremony or permit to be held in any of our churches the marriage of persons of the same sex,” reads the new law adopted at the quadrennial general conference that concluded July 7.
The legislation goes on to say that ministers charged with violating this rule will be referred to a judiciary committee and will be removed from the ministry if convicted.
Mike McKinney, a spokesman for the denomination, said the rule codifies a stance long held within the 2.5-million-member denomination. “It’s always been a position of the AME Church,” he said. “Now it’s an official law … of the AME Church.”
During the meeting, delegates elected eight new bishops, including two women and three Africans. The first AME woman bishop was elected in 2000. (TAB)
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