One fourth of United Methodist churches in U.S. have left in LGBTQ schism

A quarter of U.S. congregations in the United Methodist Church have received permission to leave the denomination during a five-year window, closing this month, that authorized departures for congregations over disputes involving the church’s LGBTQ-related policies.

This year alone, 5,641 congregations received permission from their regional conferences to leave the denomination as of Thursday, according to an unofficial tally by United Methodist News. In total, 7,658 have received permission since 2019. Thursday marked the last scheduled regional vote, according to the news service, when the Texas Annual Conference authorized four congregations’ departures.

The vast majority are conservative-leaning churches responding to what they see as the United Methodists’ failure to enforce bans on samesex marriage and the ordaining of openly LGBTQ persons.

The new year is expected to bring more changes.

The first denomination-wide legislative gathering in eight years, slated for spring 2024, will consider calls to liberalize policies on marriage and ordination. It will also debate rival proposals, either to decentralize the international church — which has at least as many members outside the United States as in — or provide overseas congregations with the same exit option their U.S. counterparts had.

The schism marks a historic shift in a denomination that was until recently the third largest in the United States, and perhaps the closest to the mainstream of American religious culture — its steeples prominent in rural crossroads and urban squares, scenes of countless potluck suppers, earnest social outreach, and warm yet decorous worship.

Many departing congregations have joined the more conservative Global Methodist Church, with others joining smaller denominations, going independent or still considering their options.

United Methodist rules forbid same-sex marriage rites and the ordination of “self-avowed practicing homosexuals,” but progressive Methodist churches and regional governing bodies in the U.S. have increasingly been defying these rules.

Conservatives have mobilized like-minded congregations to exit. The Global Methodist Church has declared its intention to enforce such rules.