More than 6,000 United Methodist congregations have now received permission to leave the denomination amid a schism over theology and the role of LGBTQ people.
FILE - A gay Pride rainbow flag flies with the U.S. flag in front of the Asbury United Methodist Church in Prairie Village, Kan., on Friday, April 19, 2019. As of June 2023, more than 6,000 United Methodist congregations a fifth of the U.S. total have now received permission to leave the denomination amid a schism over theology and the role of LGBTQ people in the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination.
Church law forbids the marriage or ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” but many conservatives have chosen to leave amid a growing defiance of those bans in many U.S. churches and conferences. Some annual conferences may approve more departures at special sessions later this year, according to the Rev. Jay Therrell, president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a conservative caucus that has advocated for the exiting churches. While most UMC congregations are remaining, many of the departing congregations are large, and denominational officials are bracing for significant budget cuts in 2024.
“I don’t think any of us want to see any of our churches leave,” he said. “We're called to be the body of Christ, we're called to be unified. There’s never been a time when the church has not been without conflict, but there’s been a way we’ve worked through that.” But amid increased defiance of those bans in many U.S. churches, many conservatives decided to launch the separate Global Methodist Church, saying they believed the sexuality issues reflected deeper theological differences.
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