The United Methodist Church’s (UMC) plans to separate into two denominations after debates regarding the church’s views of the LGBTQ+ community have fallen in the spotlight again. The UMC currently upholds a traditional approach that restricts officiating same-sex marriages and ordaining openly LGBTQ+ clergy.
The debate about how accepting the church should be came to a head at the General Conference, the church’s top law-making assembly, in 2019. Divisions between the two sides became deeper as delegates passed the Traditional Plan by 438-384, upholding church law restrictions against homosexuality and seeking stricter enforcement.
However, the majority of U.S. based delegates opposed the plan but were outnumbered by U.S. conservatives and delegates from Africa and the Philippines according to the Johnson City Press. Those in support of full inclusion of LGBTQ+ individuals responded with multiple emotional demonstrations according to umnews.org.
Western North Carolina delegate Rev. James Howell called the event “catastrophic.”
“The church as we’ve known it will not be. It’s going to fracture in ways — different ways,” he said.
A full summary of the conflicts from the 2019 conference can be found here.
As the confrontational event caused even further conflict, a group of diverse church leaders released a plan to make amends in Jan. 2020 called the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation.
This protocol would allow traditionalist-minded churches to remain on their property and form a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church. They would be given $25 million to start according to umnews.org. Several other legislative options have been presented, but they have yet to be deliberated on since the General Conference is not set to properly meet again until Aug. 2022 due to COVID-19.
However, many conservative leaders within the church do not wish to wait that long and have asked that the topic be added to the agenda for the special one-day General Conference taking place virtually on May 8, 2021, according to the Johnson City Press. Others argue that the debate over a schism should involve much more delicate deliberation than can be done in the brief meeting. Conservative leaders are willing to wait for the 2022 meeting if necessary, but only if previous agreements about the breakup are upheld until then.
For more information on the resurfacing topic of this potential split, consider this article, or visit the UMC website.
Headline photo: The UMC slogan promotes openness and acceptance, but their exclusion of the LGBTQ+ community contradicts that message.