Conservative United Methodists detail breakaway plan

Conservative leaders from the United Methodist Church (UMC) on Monday released the logo, website, and mission of the proposed new denomination, the Global Methodist Church. The reveal comes days after the UMC delayed this year’s general conference until August 2022 due to the pandemic. They had planned to consider the schism over LGBT inclusion for the second time during that conference. But supporters of the breakaway wanted a faster process and asked the church to consider the proposal during an online conference on May 8.

What are the proposed changes under the new denomination? The Global Methodist Church said it would affirm "the traditional understanding of Christian marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman." Efforts to split the UMC over same-sex unions and LGBT clergy emerged during the church’s 2019 general conference. Global church delegates voted 438-384 to strengthen the ban on LGBT inclusivity, but many liberal American clergy said they would not abide by the restrictions. One breakaway proposal, the Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation, would give the new denominations $25 million and allowed them to keep their properties.

Dig deeper: Read Kiley Crossland’s report in Relations on the UMC’s debate over sexuality in 2019.