A slate of 111 United Methodist ministers have come out as LGBT, challenging their denomination’s ban on “practicing homosexuals” and hoping to influence a major church-wide vote on LGBT issues later this week.

On Monday morning, Reconciling Ministries Network (RMN), an LGBT advocacy group within the United Methodist Church (UMC), published a letter signed by 111 ministers openly declaring their dual identity as both clergy and LGBT persons. The effort constitutes a direct affront to existing church policy — which currently prohibits the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” — and comes just one day before thousands of UMC leaders gather in Portland, Oregon, for General Conference, an event held every four years where delegates vote on issues of church governance and theology.  Source