'Derby Resolutions' on sexuality: British Methodist Church
June 29, 2006
By Kathleen LaCamera*

EDINBURGH, Scotland (UMNS) - The 1993 Derby Conference Resolutions on
Human Sexuality, nicknamed "The Derby Resolutions," refers to the six
resolutions passed at the 1993 Annual Conference of the British
Methodist Church held in the city of Derby.

Some consider the resolutions as the foundation glue that has held the
church together during the past 13 years. Others see them as a set of
statements that belong to a different time and context from which the
British Methodist Church has moved on.

Resolutions four and six generate the most heated discussions and are
often cited as contradictory, something which is problematic or
creative, depending on who is doing the citing.

These are the six resolutions that serve as the foundation for the
British Methodist Church's position on human sexuality:

1. The conference, affirming the joy of human sexuality as God's gift
and the place of every human being within the grace of God, recognizes
the responsibility that flows from this for us all. It therefore
welcomes the serious, prayerful and sometimes costly consideration
given to this issue by the Methodist Church.

2. All practices of sexuality which are promiscuous, exploitative or
demeaning in any way are unacceptable forms of behavior and contradict
God's purpose for us all.

3. A person shall not be debarred from church on the grounds of sexual
orientation in itself.

4. The conference reaffirms the traditional teaching of the church on
human sexuality; namely chastity for all outside marriage and fidelity
within it. The conference directs that this affirmation is made clear
to all candidates for ministry, office and membership, and having
established this, affirms that the existing procedures of our church
are adequate to deal with all such cases.

5. The conference resolves that its decisions in this debate shall not
be used to form the basis of a disciplinary charge against any person
in relation to conduct alleged to have taken place before such
decisions were made.

6. The conference recognizes, affirms and celebrates the participation
and ministry of lesbians and gay men in the church. The conference
calls on the Methodist people to begin a pilgrimage of faith to combat
repression and discrimination, to work for justice and human rights
and to give dignity and worth to people whatever their sexuality.

*LaCamera is a UMNS correspondent based in England.