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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (RNS) — United Methodists meeting for their top legislative assembly Wednesday (May 1) overwhelmingly overturned a measure that barred gay clergy from ordination in the denomination, a historic step for the nation’s second-largest Protestant body. With a simple vote call and without debate, delegates to the General Conference removed the ban on the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” — a prohibition that dates to 1984. With that vote, the worldwide denomination of some 11 million members joins the majority of liberal Protestant denominations such as the Episcopal Church, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America...

U.S. — A group of devout Christian missionaries has arrived all the way from Africa to reach the United Methodist Church and tell them about the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Upon hearing of the UMC's beliefs on life and social issues, a group of African believers felt a strong prodding from the Holy Spirit to venture into an entirely foreign culture and bring the Gospel to a dark and godless place. "If we do not go, who will?" asked Abosede Adeyemi, a Nigerian Christian burdened to reach lost Americans. "These United Methodists are in urgent need of the Good News....

Allendale United Methodist “Church” is already under fire for allowing minors to attend a drag queen show during its worship service, blatantly disregarding Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s legislation that prohibits exposing children to sexualized performances. One particularly egregious instance in 2022 involved Isaac Simmons, also known as drag queen “Ms. Pennycost,” who is now an ordained “pastor” or “priestess” or whatever in the UMC. Simmons openly challenges the authority of Scripture and adopts a heretical view of God, evident through his sacrilegious writings. Simmons was notably featured at this “church” delivering a “children’s sermon” that grossly misrepresented Romans 12:2, twisting...

In the latest wave of departures from the United Methodist Church, the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church voted last week to approve the disaffiliation of another 46 churches. It was the conference’s second such vote this year. The last vote, held in April, resulted in the disaffiliation of 55 churches, with a total of 30,000 congregants — 15% of the conference’s total membership. The conference estimates the value of assets held by the departing churches to be in the ballpark of $36 million. These two votes bring the total number of disaffiliations from the Florida Conference to 120...

More than 6,000 United Methodist congregations — a fifth of the US total — have 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. Those figures emerge following the close of regular meetings in June for the denomination’s regional bodies, known as annual conferences. The departures began with a trickle in 2019 — when the church created a four-year window of opportunity for US congregations to depart over LGBTQ-related issues — and cascaded to its highest level this year. Church law forbids the marriage or ordination...

Resistance to the LGBT agenda now spans legislatures, schools, and churches across the country and world, bringing division among Catholic and Anglican bishops, and now among Methodist pastors as well. More than 5,000 congregations have left the United Methodist Church (UMC), the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., over its pro-LGBT stance. The “disaffiliation” movement saw churches leaving in droves over the past several weeks, with UM News, the official news service of the UMC, reporting the disaffiliation of 5,458 churches just this year and 25,500 Methodist churches remaining. According to reports, the mass exodus of Methodist churches comes after...

Protesters, drag performers and at least one adult in a so-called “furry” costume were on hand last weekend for a “family-friendly drag show” that was moved to a local church at the last minute.The “Pride Prom” event hosted by Grayson County Pride was originally scheduled for May 13 at Pecan Grove Park West in Sherman, located about 65 miles north of Dallas.Prior to the event, however, the location was reportedly changed to 118 W Pecan Street, which is the address of the Mosaic Campus of First United Methodist (FUM) Sherman, according to the church’s website.The location change was first reported...

Jesus was a rebel. He rebelled against the world and overcame it. In times like these, Christian unity can be found in rebellion. But Christians are, of course, to strive for peace and avoid conflict when they can. Where to draw the line? Take the case of Cornerstone Church of Caledonia in Michigan, the largest United Methodist congregation in the state. It has voted to leave the mainline Protestant denomination, according to The Christian Post. The vote wasn’t close, either. The final tally came in at 616-9, with two abstentions. The UMC website emphasized that the split has not been...

The Wesley brothers were central figures in the 18th century Evangelical Revival in Great Britain. Theirs was one of the most effective partnerships between brothers in ministry.The Industrial RevolutionThe Wesleys grew up during the Industrial Revolution. Their lifetimes and ministries spanned a time of rapid change. Revolutions in smelting, spinning and distilling created whole industries. The 18th century saw some of the first experiments in electricity, photography and the steam engine.A Desperate SituationWhen the Wesleys began their itinerant preaching, there were no railroads and no restaurants. Only five or six members of parliament even went to church. Infant mortality was...

The United Methodist Church moved toward becoming more progressive and LGBTQ-affirming during U.S. regional meetings this month that included the election of its second openly gay bishop. Conservatives say the developments will only accelerate their exit from one of the nation’s largest Protestant denominations. Each of the UMC’s five U.S. jurisdictions — meeting separately in early November — approved similarly worded measures aspiring to a future of church where “LGBTQIA+ people will be protected, affirmed, and empowered.” They also passed non-binding measures asking anyone to withdraw from leadership roles if they’re planning to leave the denomination soon — a category...

A staggering 107 United Methodist congregations based in Florida plan to leave the mainline denomination for the newly launched conservative Global Methodist Church. The Florida chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a theologically conservative Methodist group, announced Tuesday that 107 churches in the state had “chosen to initiate the process to depart the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church.” The number of congregations planning to leave represents nearly 20% of the total number of churches belonging to the UMC Florida Conference. "This broad group of churches include both large and small congregations along with Anglo, African American, Latino, Korean,...

A group of Methodists in California are protesting against a regional body of the United Methodist Church, accusing its leadership of mistreating three theologically conservative Korean pastors by terminating their appointments. The Rev. Jonathan Lee of San Diego Korean United Methodist Church, the Rev. Jae Duk Lew of the Valley Korean United Methodist Church, and the Rev. Nak In Kim of the Bell Memorial United Methodist Church each had their appointments as senior pastors terminated. The three pastors fell under the jurisdiction of the UMC California-Pacific Conference, a largely theologically progressive regional body headed by Bishop Grant Hagiya. Nearly 50...

The United Methodist Church, the third-largest Christian sect in the United States, took another step toward schism over their longstanding debate on LGBT issues when theological conservatives recently unveiled their plan for a new denomination. Known as the Global Methodist Church, it was the product of the 17-member Transitional Leadership Council, a group of theologically conservative United Methodists. The Wesleyan Covenant Association, a conservative United Methodist advocacy group, announced the launching of the GMC on March 1, explaining that it will not officially begin operations until a formal separation policy is approved by the UMC. “Theologically conservative United Methodists have...

A group of theologically conservative United Methodists has announced the creation of a new denomination once the United Methodist Church officially separates due to its long-standing debate over homosexuality.The Wesleyan Covenant Association and the 17-member Transitional Leadership Council released a statement on Monday morning announcing the creation of the Global Methodist Church.According to the statement, the theologically conservative denomination will not be officially launched until the UMC General Conference, scheduled for 2022, passes a separation measure known as the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation.The Protocol, which will be up for debate at the General Conference, involves allowing conservative...

A House Democrat tasked with leading the body in an opening prayer for the new Congress has gendered the word “amen.” To close a prayer he delivered from the House chamber Sunday to mark the swearing in of the 117th Congress, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), an ordained minister, altered the traditional “amen” to say “amen and awoman.” “May the lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us and give us peace,” Cleaver said during his two-minute invocation, “Peace in our families, peace across this land, and dare I ask o Lord, peace even in this chamber.” “We ask...

Kevin Watson, a sharp young traditionalist United Methodist at Candler School of Theology in Atlanta, has written insightfully for First Things about the denomination’s impending schism. His previously written books stress the importance of early Methodism’s small spiritual accountability groups and their application for today. His more recent book is Old or New School Methodism?: The Fragmentation of a Theological Tradition, which traces current divisions to the mid 19th century. I hope to review this book soon. Here’s Watson’s conclusion in his First Things article: The agonies of the United Methodist Church and their roots in Methodist history teach an...

A struggling Minnesota church is asking its older parishioners to leave in hopes of making it more attractive to young families. Grove United Methodist Church in the St. Paul suburb of Cottage Grove is closing in June, with plans to relaunch in November. The present members, most of them over 60 years old, will be invited to worship elsewhere, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported. The church is asking that they stay away for two years, then consult the pastor about reapplying. “I pray for this church, getting through this age-discrimination thing,” William Gackstetter said at church on a recent...

The United Methodist Church is expected to split into more than one denomination in an attempt to bring to a close a years-long and contentious fight over same-sex marriage. The historic schism would divide the third-largest religious denomination in the United States. Leaders of the church announced Friday they had agreed to spin off a “traditionalist Methodist” denomination, which would continue to oppose same-sex marriage and to refuse ordination to LGBT clergy, while allowing the remaining portion of the United Methodist Church to permit same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy for the first time in its history.

United Methodism moved closer to formal schism with a new proposal released today negotiated with liberal and conservative groups, including bishops. The plan would divide the nearly 13 million member global denomination into separate conservative and liberal communions. The mediator for these negotiations was Kenneth Feinberg, the Washington, D.C. attorney best known as Special Master of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund. Under this plan, conferences (Methodism’s version of dioceses or presbyteries) could vote by 2021 to join the conservative denomination by a 57% vote. Local churches by 2024 could vote by majority. The conservative denomination would get $25 million...

On four separate occasions in October 2017, the informant entered Echo Park United Methodist Church with a hidden recorder and captured audio of meetings held by the Los Angeles chapter of Refuse Fascism, a group which has organized a number of large-scale demonstrations against the Trump administration in major U.S. cities, according to court records reviewed by The Times. ... part of an ongoing case against several members of Refuse Fascism who were charged with criminal trespass for blocking a downtown section of the 101 Freeway during two separate anti-Trump demonstrations in September and November of 2017.