The Kansas City Star reported AME votes to bar ministers from performing same-sex unions
COLUMBIA, S.C. - (KRT) - Delegates at the national convention of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) church voted unanimously Wednesday not to allow any of the church's ministers to perform same-sex unions.The 2.5 million-member, mostly black denomination is the most recent Christian group in the nation to address the hot-button issue of gay marriage.
Delegates at the AME convention in Indianapolis used a unanimous voice vote to pass the motion, which made it illegal within the denomination for any minister to perform a same-sex marriage or civil union.
The vote came without any debate, said the Rev. Joe Darby, pastor of Charleston's Morris Brown AME, who attended the conference. He said it went smoothly because members consider other issues, such as civil rights, education and the presidential election, more urgent.
"This was not a matter of major contention. We have greater fish to fry than the same-sex marriage thing," he said. "I think this vote was done so that those who would try to use it as an issue wouldn't have it as a tool." [emphasis mine]
Translation: Same-sex marriage is not considered a civil right in the African-American church. Don't use African-Americans to make it into one.
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