Methodists plan church split

United Methodist Church leaders from around the world have revealed plans to resolve disagreements over same-sex marriage and homosexual clergy by splitting the church and forming a new denomination. The proposal announced on Friday outlines an amicable divorce after delegates in St. Louis last year voted 438-384 to uphold Biblical marriage.

What’s the plan? A 16-member panel began working with a mediator in October and signed off on the plan last month to create a separate “traditionalist Methodist” denomination for conservative, Biblically faithful churches. The new denomination would receive $25 million and member churches would retain their assets. The next step could come at the UMC General Conference in May.

Dig deeper: Read Kiley Crossland’s report in Relations on the UMC’s debate over sexuality at the General Conference last March. For comparison, read Jamie Dean’s report in WORLD Magazine about the protracted legal battles between conservative Anglican and Episcopalian churches.