The US-based United Methodist Church said it does not see homosexuality as a sin or heresy, countering the accusations leveled at the global denomination by a coalition of Korean Protestant churches.

“The Bible says homosexuality is a sin and consecrating gay clergy amounts to heresy,” President Jung Seo-young of the Christian Council of Korea said in a statement Saturday, made in response to the UMC decision to lift its 40-year-old ban on ordaining gay clergy Wednesday.

“The UMC has never taught that homosexuality is a sin. Some individual United Methodists may have believed this, and that would be their right, but the denomination has never taught this,” the Rev. Taylor W Burton Edwards, a United Methodist Communications director, told The Korea Herald.

Edwards said the UMC decision warrants no discussion involving heresy because for that to happen, “teachings contrary to core doctrines of the Christian faith” that result in division within the church have to take place.

“Matters relating to sexuality are not a matter of core Christian doctrine, and never have been,” Edwards said, noting the denomination has not rewritten its commitment to the core Christian doctrines it has always held.

The UMC pastor added that decisions that have to do with presiding over same-sex marriage or union ceremonies rest with each pastor and that pastors and churches in the US are free to make whatever conscientious choices they feel comfortable making -- without fear of retaliation.

Policy changes within the UMC do not influence Korean society, where it has no congregations, Edwards noted, explaining the denomination is not looking to interfere in mission matters involving Korean churches, including the Korean Methodist Church.

The remark was in reference to former Methodist pastor Lee Dong-hwan -- a one-time Korean church leader excommunicated by the KMC on March 4 for his decision to bless same-sex couples during the Pride Festivals in Korea in 2019 and 2020.

The punishment cites the church law that bans endorsing homosexuality. The 43-year-old pastor has asked the Seoul Central District Court to determine whether the homosexuality clause the KMC approved in 2015 is not in conflict with constitutional freedoms: to heed inner voices, express thoughts and pursue religion.

Lee’s attorneys also cite procedural lapses in seeking to nullify the KMC ruling.

“The United Methodist Church does not interfere in organizational or mission matters in other denominations,” Edwards said, describing what could be a lengthy legal battle for Lee as “entirely internal to the Korean Methodist Church.”

An official at the KMC said it has been operating independently of the UMC since 1930. The official said the denomination stands by its rules banning endorsing homosexuality.