Clergy have regular opportunities to take a prophetic stance on social issues in their weekly sermons, but they are also responsible for maintaining organizational stability. How do they respond to controversial denominational decisions? We collected sermons from United Methodist Church (UMC) clergy following the 2019 UMC decision to maintain their prohibition against same sex marriage and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) ordination. Our qualitative analysis of a sample of 447 sermons reveals three strategies clergy use to respond to the UMC decision: prophetic engagement, unifying discussion, and detached acknowledgment. Further, we show that different strategies are likely tied to the pastor’s perception of the attitudes of their attendees. Some clergy are willing to use a constrained prophetic voice in support of LGBTQ people, but most balance their comments with pragmatic efforts to minimize conflict. As a result, a more inclusive religious voice is present, but it may be muted by congregational concerns.

中文翻译：

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“你知道，教会从来没有就所有事情达成一致”：分析神职人员布道中预言性和实用性的声音

神职人员定期有机会在每周的布道中对社会问题采取预言性立场，但他们也负责维持组织稳定。他们如何回应有争议的教派决定？在 2019 年 UMC 决定继续禁止同性婚姻和女同性恋、男同性恋、双性恋、变性人和酷儿 (LGBTQ) 任命后，我们收集了联合卫理公会 (UMC) 神职人员的讲道。我们对 447 篇布道样本的定性分析揭示了神职人员用来回应 UMC 决定的三种策略：预言性参与、统一讨论和超然承认。此外，我们表明，不同的策略可能与牧师对与会者态度的看法有关。一些神职人员愿意使用受限的预言性声音来支​​持 LGBTQ 人群，但大多数神职人员会在他们的评论与务实的努力之间取得平衡，以尽量减少冲突。结果，出现了更具包容性的宗教声音，但可能会因会众的担忧而被削弱。