United Methodists: As a landmark gathering approaches, African churches weigh their future.
PETER SMITH, of Associated Press, reports on how African Methodists are responding to the UMC’s dispute over sexuality and theology…
Essay: A dramatic schism over social issues? The United Methodist Church has been here before – but this time, America’s religious landscape is far different
CHRISTOPHER H EVANS, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at the parallels between the current UMC schism and that which took place in 1844…
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, 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 […]
Global Methodist Church releases list of recommended schools for hopeful clergy
United StatesRNS How does one become a pastor in the new Global Methodist Church? The fledgling Methodist denomination, a home for congregations and clergy that have broken away from the United Methodist Church amid ongoing debate over the role of LGBTQ Christians, has announced a list of recommended educational institutions for candidates seeking ordination as a deacon […]
United Methodists: Bishop Scott Jones moves from “extreme centre” of UMC to new Global Methodist Church
He isn’t the first bishop to leave the United Methodist Church for the fledgling conservative denomination. But his exit has arguably caused the greatest stir reports EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER, of Religion News Service…