The United Methodist Church removed on Wednesday its longstanding ban on ordaining gay clergy, formalizing a shift in policy that had already begun in practice and that had prompted the departure of a quarter of its U.S. congregations in recent years.

Some Oklahomans shed happy tears Wednesday as delegates at the United Methodist Church's General Conference lifted a ban on LGBTQ+ clergy ordination.

Other proposals to remove restrictions on same-sex unions and change the disciplinary consequences for dissent are also up for debate. The UMC General Conference’s decisions are aimed at reversing a series of policies that traditionalists worked for decades to pass and protect.

The change doesn't mandate or even explicitly affirm LGBTQ clergy, but it means the church no longer forbids them.

Palestine rally held on the University of Oklahoma campus; Osage 'Million Dollar Elm' found cut down, police suspect vandalism

The vote at the church ’s General Conference, which tallied 692-51, saw the church remove its ban on “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from serving in the church as ordained or appointed ministers. This new rule will go into effect starting Friday when the General Conference will finish.

North Texas Methodists are reacting to the news of the United Methodist Church lifting its longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy on Wednesday, a rule that forbid

This way of doing church, where love is at the center, is really what it’s all about,” said Rev. Andy Oliver of Allendale United Methodist Church in St. Pete.

United Methodists, at major conference, repeal their church’s longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy

On the second day of the final week of the UMC General Conference in Charlotte, delegates passed petitions seeking to remove anti-LGBTQ+ restrictions.

United Methodist delegates have begun making historic policy changes on sexuality, voting without debate to reverse a series of anti-LGBTQ polices