Evangelical Methodist Church Largely Ends Discrimination Against Homosexuals at General Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina

The worldwide Evangelical Methodist Church (EmK) has largely ended religious discrimination against homosexuals, according to a report published in May 2025 by meine-kirchenzeitung.de. The church’s General Conference, held from 23 April to 3 May in Charlotte, North Carolina, officially abolished the prohibition on ordaining people “pronouncing homosexuals.” The report states that practices of homosexuality are no longer considered “as incompatible with Christian doctrine.”

The same report said the General Conference also created a new region for the United States, ending the church’s historical dependence on the United States. Bishop Harald Rückert said the church is now truly an equal worldwide church. The report headlined the outcome as a split averted.

The report also cited EmK spokesman Ulrich Ruof, who said that around 25 percent of congregations and members in the United States had left the Freikirche. The report did not give further detail on those departures. It also noted that the EmK in Germany comprises around 44,800 church members in almost 420 congregations.

A later report from jesus.de, published on 19 November 2025, described a different stage of the process. It said the EmK had ratified changes to regionalization that the General Conference decided in 2024. More than 90 percent of the approved members voting agreed to the reform, and a two-thirds majority was required. According to the report, the reform ends the previous US pre-rule. By renaming the central conferences as regional conferences, all regions, including the United States, receive equal rights to adapt church law.

The jesus.de report said the aim of the reform is to shape the global church community to be just, balanced and contextually related. Harald Rückert, now a German bishop in retirement, called the decision a milestone for the worldwide community. Equal standing among the regions reflects the church’s call to unity across its members (John 17:21).

Bishop Werner Philipp, Rückert’s successor as head of the EmK in Germany, said the task now is filling the new structures with life.