United Methodist Church polity bars "self-avowed practicing homosexuals" from ordination and prohibits same-sex wedding celebrations in their churches or by their clergy. Recently, the consequences for disobeying church polity have increased in severity and the denomination is expected to split. This paper profiles three churches who…

Informed by interpretive phenomenological analysis and sociocultural theory, this study examines the language experiences of seven Methodist youth. Analysis of 9 months of observations and 30 interviews yielded a set of experiences that represent the intimacy and complexity of youths' religious discourses. As an essential feature of this…