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.

The United Methodist Church overturned its 40-year ban on gay clergy Wednesday, marking a historic shift in the church’s stance on homosexuality.

United Methodists lifted a 40-year ban on gay clergy Wednesday in a major step toward greater LGBTQ+ inclusion in the nation’s largest mainline Protestant denomination. The vote to remove the ban was the latest decision by the United Methodist Church's top legislative assembly here this week toward rolling back what many progressive and centrists Methodists view as overly restrictive policies.