Methodist Conservatives to Split From United Methodists Over LGBTQ Rights

The Global Methodist Church on Thursday announced a May launch and formal split from the United Methodist Church (UMC) over LGBTQ rights, reports The Associated Press.

The formation of the new denomination was spurred by events in 2016 when hundreds of United Methodist clergy came out as gay and when a regional conference elected the first openly lesbian bishop.

A vote in 2019 where delegates approved a proposal that did not fundamentally change the denomination's stance on sexuality sealed the deal.

"Many believe a parting of ways is the only viable way forward," the Wesleyan Covenant Association said in a news release after the special session. The General Conference also approved an "exit plan" then that allows churches to disaffiliate from UMC, the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the U.S., for stances on sexuality.

Global Methodist Church organizers had originally expected to launch the denomination only after the next General Conference of the UMC. That legislative body is the only one that could approve a tentative agreement — unveiled in 2020 after negotiations between conservatives, liberals and centrists — to allow churches and regional groups to leave the denomination and keep their property.

But the General Conference, originally scheduled for 2020, was already delayed for two consecutive years by the pandemic. On Thursday, the United Methodist Church announced it was pushing off the next gathering yet again — to 2024 — due to long delays in the U.S. processing of visa applications. A little more than half of the denomination's members are overseas, notably in Africa and the Philippines.

The new traditionalist denomination will reportedly receive $25 million from the UMC to get started, according to The Tennessean.

At least 132 churches had already disaffiliated from UMC since 2019, according to the United Methodist news service. Still, there are more than 30,500 United Methodist churches in the U.S.

The Rev. Keith Boyette, chairman of the 17-member Transitional Leadership Council and president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, in a press release said many United Methodist members have "grown impatient with a denomination clearly struggling to function effectively at the general church level."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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