Ed Rowe, left, Rebecca Wilson, Robin Hager and Jill Zundel react to the defeat of a proposal that would allow LGBT clergy and same-sex marriage within the United Methodist Church at the denomination’s meeting in St. Louis on Tuesday. Many American ministers in the United Methodist Church already perform same-sex marriages and approve of the ordination of LGBT people as clergy, although the Protestant church’s rules officially forbid these marriages and ordinations. [Will the United Methodist Church split over LGBT debate? The United Methodist Church is the largest mainline — meaning nonevangelical — Protestant church in the United States. The Episcopal Church debates whether to change its Book of Common Prayer]The United Methodist Church, unlike those denominations, is worldwide, not almost entirely American.

Source: Washington Post February 26, 2019 23:00 UTC