After last weeks posts, there have been a few comments and conversations of substance outside of the blog. I want to share some of my responses in those conversations. I haven't asked the others I have spoken to in these conversations to share their comments. I will only give the framing question and my response. I was asked by one dear friend: What is the United Methodist churches stance on same-sex marriage? My response: We are in a state of quiet disagreement. There are plenty of voices on both sides of the issue stating clearly their opinion. The quiet part of the disagreement is two-fold. First, we have put a moratorium on clergy trials for clergy who perform same-sex weddings. There are clergy who feel it is their Christian duty to perform weddings in states where it is legal. There are clergy who believe that, since our Book of Discipline has clear rules against it, no one within the UMC is legally/ecclesiastically eligible to do those. (That brings up an interestin...