![]() and overseas churches.īut amid increased defiance of those bans in many U.S. United Methodist legislative bodies, known as general conferences, have repeatedly reinforced bans on LGBTQ marriage and ordination, on the strength of coalitions of conservatives in U.S. The split has been long in the making, mirroring controversies that have led to splits in other mainline Protestant denominations. ![]() 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.”īut for those who want “to go and live out their Christian faith in a new expression, we wish God’s blessings on them,” he said. “We’re called to be the body of Christ, we’re called to be unified. “I don’t think any of us want to see any of our churches leave,” he said. “There have been some small exceptions to that, and those are unfortunate, but we’re grateful that cooler and calmer heads have prevailed.”īishop Thomas Bickerton, president of the UMC’s Council of Bishops, said the departures were disappointing. “For the most part, bishops and other annual conference leaders have been very gracious, and I deeply appreciate that,” Therrell said. Legal wrangles have largely been resolved over how much compensation the departing congregations must pay for their property and other financial obligations. That figure is 4,172 for this year alone, it reported. Some 6,182 congregations have received approval to disaffiliate since 2019, according to an unofficial tally by United Methodist News Service, which has been tracking votes by annual conferences. Many of the departing congregations are joining the Global Methodist Church, a denomination created last year by conservatives breaking from the UMC, while others are going independent or joining different denominations. congregations to depart over LGBTQ-related issues - and cascaded to its highest level this year.Ĭhurch 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. The departures began with a trickle in 2019 - when the church created a four-year window of opportunity for U.S. Those figures emerge following the close of regular meetings in June for the denomination’s regional bodies, known as annual conferences. ![]() ![]() 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. More than 6,000 United Methodist congregations - a fifth of the U.S. ![]()
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