Methodist loses 5,000 congregations for not rejecting LGBT invasion

2023-06-12 20:08:47

The United Methodist Church in the USA is falling apart because of an internal division. The second-largest denomination in the country has, in recent years, seen more than 5,000 congregations vote to leave the institution due to a controversy involving the ordination of homosexuals to the ministry and the celebration of LGBT unions.

Recent data indicate that, as of last Friday, June 9, the number of congregations that approved disaffiliation from The United Methodist Church (UMC) reached 5,321.

The whole problem began with the lenient stance of the denomination’s leadership towards congregations that adopted a progressive interpretation of the Scriptures, even though the church’s Book of Discipline is orthodox regarding the doctrine that condemns homosexual practice.

In recent decades, adherents of theological liberalism have lobbied to change the stance in the Book of Discipline that prohibits the celebration of same-sex unions and the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals.

Many congregations, pastored by priests adept at theological liberalism, began to ordain homosexuals to the pastoral ministry and celebrate LGBT unions, while the intended change is not approved.

A significant part of the affiliated churches contested this stance, and the UMC leadership chose to bet that time would pacify the situation, with successive postponements of voting on proposals that would make this type of practice difficult.

That was the trigger for thousands of congregations disaffiliatedwith many of them betting on the founding of a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, with a theologically conservative statute.

UMC leaders adopt a discourse that suggests indifference to the stampede: “We can no longer focus our attention and give energy to those who have chosen to withdraw or disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church. We mourn the loss,” Bishop Tracy S. Malone said in a recent address.

“We pray for them and bless them on their journey. We must focus our attention on those who remain in The United Methodist Church and keep our ever-vigilant eyes on our mission and our vision,” he concluded, according to the portal. The Christian Post.