United Methodists begin to reverse longstanding anti-LGBTQ policies
Charlotte, North Carolina, US AP United Methodist delegates began making historic changes in their policies on sexuality on Tuesday – voting without debate to reverse a series of anti-LGBTQ policies. The delegates voted to delete mandatory penalties for conducting same-sex marriages and to remove their denomination’s bans on considering LGBTQ candidates for ministry and on […]
In the US, the United Methodist Church has lost a quarter of its churches – most in the South
United States RNS Americans looking to understand the ways political polarization has defined US voting patterns need look no further than the divisions in the United Methodist Church. Five years after allowing churches to leave with their properties if they disagreed with the direction the denomination was heading on human sexuality, the results of the […]
United Methodist Church: One fourth of churches in US have left in schism over LGBTQ ban. What happens now?
PETER SMITH, of Associated Press, reports on the growing number of congregations leaving the denomination…
The Long Read: Four ways to leave your denomination – How churches are disaffiliating from the UMC
To date, 5,550 of the United Methodist Church’s approximately 30,000 US churches have disaffiliated from the country’s second-largest Protestant denomination since 2019. EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER and BELYNN HOLLERS, of Religion News Service, report…
In the US, judge clears way for disaffiliations from United Methodist Church in north Georgia
United StatesRNS The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church can’t just press “pause” on disaffiliations from the denomination by churches in its area, according to a ruling on Tuesday by a Georgia judge. Cobb County Superior Court Judge J Stephen Schuster ruled from the bench that the North Georgia Conference “has an affirmative […]
In the US, breakaway Texas UMC megachurch reveals plans for new Methodist denomination
Southlake, Texas, USRNS Last year, White’s Chapel, a large congregation in a wealthy suburb outside of Dallas, overwhelmingly voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church. Today, the church, which draws more than 2,000 people on a Sunday, belongs to a denomination of one, a network it is calling the Methodist Collegiate Church. White’s Chapel Methodist […]
UMC bishops request 2026 General Conference as hundreds more churches disaffiliate
Chicago, USRNS United Methodist bishops have proposed a five-day meeting of the denomination’s global decision-making body, the General Conference, in May, 2026. The announcement comes at the end of the Council of Bishops’ spring meeting last week in Chicago and a weekend that saw hundreds of United Methodist churches in the United States leave […]
United Methodist bishops meet, look to pivot after 2,400+ churches disaffiliate
Chicago, USRNS About 100 active and retired United Methodist bishops from across the globe are meeting this week in Chicago for the first time in person since the COVID-19 pandemic and since the launch one year ago of the Global Methodist Church, a conservative denomination formed for United Methodist churches looking to disaffiliate over LGBTQ […]
In the US, UMC top court rules disaffiliating clergy don’t automatically lose credentials
United StatesRNS The United Methodist Judicial Council ruled on Tuesday that clergy will not automatically lose their credentials if their churches leave the denomination. The decision comes as the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States continues to splinter over the ordination and marriage of its LGBTQ members. According to the latest tally by United Methodist […]
In the US, judge dismisses lawsuit by Florida United Methodist churches
United StatesRNS A Florida judge has dismissed a lawsuit originally brought by more than 100 United Methodist churches wishing to immediately disaffiliate from the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Eighth Judicial Circuit Court Judge George M Wright granted a motion to dismiss the suit on Monday, saying the court lacked jurisdiction. The United Methodist […]