ALLIANCE, Ohio (AP) - A university in Ohio has ended its affiliation with the United Methodist Church over the denomination’s renewed bans on LGBT clergy and same-sex marriage.
The Canton Repository reports the University of Mount Union president says the board of trustees considered the issue for months before voting recently to end the affiliation of more than 150 years.
University President W. Richard Merriman Jr. says the school wants a diverse campus. He says it became difficult to see how the denomination’s recent actions could be reconciled with the university’s values.
The General Conference of the United Methodist Church in February voted to continue prohibiting ordination of gays and lesbians and barring its clergy from presiding at same-sex weddings.
The university in Alliance says ending the affiliation won’t affect its curriculum.
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