The United Methodist Church (UMC experienced its greatest schism since the Civil War — in 2019 at the annual UMC Special General Conference, church leadership passed a policy allowing congregations to vote on whether or not to leave the UMC. The reason: the church’s decision to allow for LGBTQ+ people to be a part of congregations and church clergy.
Almost 25 percent of UMC churches across the nation disaffiliated, and in North Carolina, over 670 of the UMC congregations left to join the new Global Methodist Church (GMC). This new denomination claims to “maintain traditional Christian views of sexuality and limit the power of bishops,” which critics say will foster a toxic environment for LGBTQ+ persons and allies within these disaffiliated congregations.
Qnotes has reviewed the events leading to the UMC and GMC split — from the original cause of the schism to what’s happened since the deadline to leave passed in December. Here’s what we know as of now.
How did we get here?
The UMC started in Great Britain, but it wasn’t until the establishment of the 13 colonies that Methodism really saw a surge in new members.
Matthew Wilson, an associate professor of political science at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, spoke to USA Today about the UMC’s role in American culture and how the split happened in the first place.
“Methodism really took off in the U.S. more than it did in Britain,” Wilson explained. “More than any other denomination, it has historically been the core of mainline Protestantism in the U.S., so what happens in Methodism is really significant for American Protestantism.”
The UMC is politically diverse, with some members identifying as right-wing conservatives while others claim to be the new progressive voice of the church. The progressive faction of the UMC has been pushing for more acceptance of LGBTQ+ congregations and clergy, while the more “traditional” sector opposes LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church.
This, Wilson says, has led to the greatest split in the Methodist church since the Civil War.
“They want to essentially remove any reference to what we call ‘traditional marriage and sexuality norms,’” Wilson said. “The traditional faction is deeply opposed to that. They say those moves are out of step with church teachings, and they’ve been at odds for some time.
“The sides within Methodism are deeply sick and tired of each other … They’re at an impasse.”
Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, said the church had attempted to not comment on same-sex marriage as debates around the topic escalated in the mid-2010s.
“The United Methodist Church has been trying to avoid the question of same-sex marriage for years, but they finally came to an understanding that they were going to have to face this head-on,” Burge said.
The UMC, according to Burke, is also helping provide funds for new GMC congregations to help offset start-up costs for these new churches.
“It’s a well-orchestrated plan,” he explained. “It’s not chaotic. It’s a controlled schism, which we don’t typically see, especially at this scale.”
Wilson said some of the churches deciding to leave were some of the largest in the United States, which is why the number of church members in the entire denomination went down by almost half.
“Some of the churches that are leaving are some of the most vibrant churches,” he said. “You have to look at where the energy and dynamism is…. By and large, the energy and growth is in more conservative churches. So as they leave, that creates problems for the denomination, one that has been shrinking anyway.”
According to a Lewis Center report, over 97% of the disaffiliating churches are predominantly white while 89% of UMC congregations are predominantly white.
And that same report revealed not all of the churches have switched to the GMC — in fact, churches are choosing to remain independent instead of uniting with new denominations.
“One stark difference seen between disaffiliating churches and similar departures from other mainline denominations is the decision of disaffiliating churches to remain independent of any denomination, at least for now,” the report states. “Most of those departing other mainline denominations joined another denomination immediately. … It appears that only about half of disaffiliating churches are joining another denomination, but no one knows for sure.”
The impact of the schism
So what does the split between the UMC and the GMC mean for the future of the church?
According to Burge, the UMC will most likely be able to pass more progressive rules and policies since most of the conservative voices within the church have left.
“But this hampers them big time,” he said. “They will have to downsize denominationally. They will have to cut missions. For a denomination that used to dominate U.S. cultural, political and religious life, it’s hard to grasp how big this shift is.”
The split could also impact the resources and funding Methodist-affiliated private universities receive. North Carolina is home to 13 Methodist-based universities, including Duke University, Methodist University, High Point University and more.
“They will really have to rethink what they’re up to,” he said. “They can’t charge more tuition; there’s no money in being a pastor. The UMC will have to have a conversation about how many seminaries they really need.”
Erik Hoeke, a United Methodist pastor at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, told Christianity Today that while there is still tension, he is hopeful the church can shift to be more inclusive toward all congregation members and, eventually, the chaos will calm down.
“I don’t think the conflict will go away entirely,” Hoeke said, “but I do think that as people sort themselves into spaces where they feel comfortable living out their theological commitments, whatever they are, I think some of the anxiety will fade, it will dissipate. It’s just one of those things that we have to be patient about.”