One-fifth of United Methodist congregations in the United States have received permission to leave the denomination over disagreements over same-sex marriage and gay preachers.
In annual conferences since 2019, 6,182 congregations of United Methodists voted to leave the church which composes the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States. This year alone, 4,172 congregations left, according to an unofficial tally by United Methodist News Service.
While the church forbids the marriage or ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” many churches and conferences defy those bans. This prompted more conservative congregations to leave the denomination.
Conservatives on May 1 officially launched a new Global Methodist Church, where they plan to maintain and enforce bans on things that include gay ministers and same-sex weddings. Many departing congregations will join the Global Methodist Church, while others will be independent or join different denominations.
The UMC is a worldwide denomination. American membership has declined to about 6.5 million, from a peak of 11 million in the 1960s. Overseas membership soared to match or exceed that of the U.S., fueled mostly by growth and mergers in Africa.
Recent shifts in the church
- 2019: A vote by a General Conference was the latest of several in recent decades that reinforced the church’s ban on gay clergy and marriage. But that vote also prompted many local conferences to elect more liberal and centrist delegates, whose influence was felt in this month’s regional votes.
- 2020: Support for a compromise measure that would have amicably split the denomination fell apart after that year’s legislative General Conference was postponed three times due to the pandemic. The next General Conference is now scheduled to begin in April 2024 in Charlotte, North Carolina.
- 2022: Votes at regional meetings last November indicated a growing momentum toward inclusivity in the church. The five separate regions all approved similarly worded measures aspiring to a future in the church where “LGBTQIA+ people will be protected, affirmed, and empowered.”
The United Methodists have long been described as a theologically diverse, mainstream denomination. Many within the denomination are seeking to reverse bans on the ordination of gay and lesbian ministers and officiations of gay weddings.
LGBTQ+ response
While some departing churches allow LGBTQ+ members, it’s an unacceptable double standard when they let LGBTQ+ people attend their services but refuse to marry them, said Sonja Feist, president of the Topeka chapter of Parents, Family and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
She told The Capital-Journal she didn’t see how a church that bans same-sex marriage can claim to be welcoming to gay people.
Contributing: Associated Press, Tim Hrenchir
