My United Methdist Church has gone from about 15 million to 7.5 million just for arguing over this stuff. They yearn for irrelevance.
Close friends of mine just left the UMC. They are both roughly 50 and had been lifelong Methodists, but they said they could no longer subject their children to what was being taught in their church. Most Methodists I know seem much more conservative and traditional than their leaders. I’m not sure if that’s as true everywhere as it is in Tennessee and Mississippi.
One of the former members of my youth group is now a pastor. I am proud of this. But I am disappointed to see him go mushy on the marriage integrity question. He doesn't want to fight the culture war. What he fails to grasp is that if the culture war is truly lost, his flock will dissipate.
Giving in on same sex marriage is not going to put butts back in the pews. The demands for the church to excuse sins will only increase.