Methodist Bishop alarms over homosexuality

The Bishop of the Liberia Annual Conference, United Methodist Church Rev. Dr. Samuel Quire, Jr. alarms here about the weave of homosexual practices in the Methodist Church, terming it as “very serious.”

He raised the alarm on Sunday, 19 November at the close of the 29th Annual Session and 63rd Anniversary of the Monrovia District Women Conference of the United Methodist Church held at the David Gueh Memorial United Methodist Church near Du-Port Road, Paynesville in a suburb of Monrovia.

“We need to pray because without prayers, the Church can split right in the middle. Homosexuality in the Church is very serious”, Bishop Quire continues, while addressing delegates from the 32-member Churches of the Monrovia District.

A member of the clergy, who spoke to this paper at the conference on condition of anonymity, acknowledges the problem and explains that those involved are even opting to be wedded in the Church and ordained as clerical ministers.

But he quickly adds that the Board of Ordained Ministers, a body in the United Methodist Church that is responsible to ordain and license pastors, is vehemently opposed to ordaining homosexuals as pastors.

Meanwhile, Bishop Quire stresses the need for the United Methodist Church to set its priorities straight, explaining that the new strategy now is to create the kind of ministry that attracts people.

“Unless we make the Church relevant again”, he warns, “the people will not come to Church.
The Methodist Bishop also kicked against clique system in the Church, reminding women of the district and all United Methodists to care for one another in practicalizing their slogan, ‘Rescue the perishing, care for the dying; not for ourselves, but for others.’

He says the Church should not become a place where members pick and choose who to help or who to befriend.

However, as Bishop Quire spokes these words, one of the women sitting by me, remarks, “You’re the big people; you just talking it. When someone is in problem, your care for people? Your own Pastor, you don’t have anything, he does not care for you. All we can do to just serve God.”