One-fifth of United Methodist congregations in the United States have received permission to leave the denomination over disagreements over same-sex marriage and gay preachers.
In annual conferences since 2019, 6,182 congregations of United Methodists voted to leave the church which composes the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
According to USA Today, This year alone, 4,172 congregations left, according to an unofficial tally by United Methodist News Service.
While the church forbids the marriage or ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” many churches and conferences defy those bans. This prompted more conservative congregations to leave the denomination.
Conservatives in May 2022 officially launched a new Global Methodist Church, where they plan to maintain and enforce bans on things that include gay ministers and same-sex weddings.
Many departing congregations will join the Global Methodist Church, while others will be independent or join different denominations.
The UMC is a worldwide denomination. American membership has declined to about 6.5 million, from a peak of 11 million in the 1960s. Overseas membership soared to match or exceed that of the U.S., fueled mostly by growth and mergers in Africa.
