Thousands of U.S. congregations leaving United Methodist denomination

As of the end of June, over one-fifth of United Methodist congregations in America have been granted disaffiliation from the denomination. More than 6,000 of the denomination's roughly 30,000 member congregations have left, by the count of United Methodist News Service. Many of the departing congregations are joining the Global Methodist Church, founded last year by a group of conservative congregations.

Why are they leaving? For years, the United Methodist Church debated whether to change the rules in the church’s Book of Discipline. The rules currently prohibit the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, but many churches within the denomination have defied that ban. In 2019, the church added Paragraph 2553 to the book, which gave churches a four-year period to leave the church over the issue. This period expires at the end of 2023. With the departures, it is possible the denomination could eliminate the ban on homosexual unions and ordinations.

Dig deeper: Read Mark Tooley’s column in WORLD Opinions on the acceleration of United Methodist church disaffiliations.