I left the United Methodists over this very issue some years ago. The church I belonged to lost a very fine pastor (retired) and his replacement was a woman who preached constantly about the value of homosexuals. She was also obsessed with animals and the souls of animals. She rarely mentioned Jesus and I got the distinct impression that she didn’t believe in God.
My family have been Methodist for over 40 years, but if this occurs we will be changing churches..
Hubby and I have been talking of a move for about a year now and we more than likely will make that move..
right now we have a pastor who is a native South Korean, and he seems very Conservative and does not support liberal ideas. He has a Doctorate Degree and we look for him to move soon...young people in the rural areas just don’t seem to be interested in attending church services..so sad............
We had a woman pastor in our Methodist church a few years ago and she was just as goofy. I think they wound up taking away her credentials and she sued the church for sex discrimination. I was dismayed she was ordained to begin with; she was clearly unfit.
As for the issue here if these ministers want to leave and start their gay church I say go ahead. It’s addition by subtraction and the best thing that could happen. However if the Methodist church permits gay marriages, I’m outta there.