2023-06-02 19:21:35
A historic schism involving zeal for biblical doctrine is rocking the United Methodist Church (UMC) in the United States, and so far, more than 4,000 congregations have decided to disaffiliate from the denomination.
Churches that most recently confirmed disaffiliation are a group from the Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, DC area.
In all, 23 churches submitted the matter to a vote and the decision of the vast majority of members was to leave the UMC, joining thousands of other congregations that followed the same path.
the discord
On paper, the United Methodist Church remains conservative in doctrine, rejecting homosexuality as “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
UMC’s Book of Discipline prohibits same-sex unions, as well as the ordination of homosexuals to pastoral ministry if they are not celibate.
In practice, gays and lesbians celebrate their affective unions in temples and even openly homosexual priests have been ordained to the ministry.
The problem has been dragging on for the last few years, as one wing of the UMC wants to impose a change in the official stance.
In 2020, a group of Methodists with differing theological views proposed a deal where the UMC would provide funds so they could create a new conservative denomination on the subject of sexuality, while progressives would be free to change the Book of Discipline and embrace theology. LGBT for good.
However, because of the pandemic, this discussion was postponed to March 2022, but the UMC again postponed the debate to 2024, which caused irritation in many congregations, which went on to break with the denomination and found the Global Methodist Church (GMC) .
In 2022, some congregations faced opposition from the UMC to disaffiliate. In several US states, hundreds of other churches carried out their decisions to leave the denomination for not collaborating with relativism in the face of theological liberalism.
Stampede
One of the churches that chose to leave the UMC is the Asbury United Methodist Church, which became known worldwide due to a revival that started in the college chapel, an episode that became known as the “Asbury Revival”.
In this divisive environment, the list of churches that have decided to leave the UMC has been growing, even with the risk that these congregations face lengthy and costly processes. Therefore, they are choosing to move away from the UMC to defend biblical doctrine.
According to information from the portal The Christian Post, this is the case of the churches that voted to leave the UMC Baltimore-Washington Conference and must pay almost US$ 11 million in compensation, an amount corresponding to 50% of the properties where the temples are located. There are disagreements over the form and deadline for this discharge, which should take the churches to court.
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