The United Methodist Church Comes Apart
White’s Chapel Methodist Church in Southlake, Texas, once the second-largest United Methodist congregation in the US, has left the denomination amid a widespread schism over the issue of ordaining and marrying LGBTQ people. The split has seen a quarter of the nation’s United Methodist churches depart, since a 2019 decision by Methodist leaders allowed congregations to leave over “reasons of conscience”. The church’s decline is part of a broader trend in mainline Protestantism. Now, remaining congregations and leaders are preparing for a future with a potentially shrinking footprint in the US. The United Methodist Church still officially forbids same-sex marriage and openly gay ministers, but changes may be proposed at the denomination’s quadrennial meeting in spring.
Leave a Comment