Anti-LGBTQ Wing of Methodist Church Breaks Away
Fight over same-sex marriage, LGBTQ clergy takes on new twist
BY MATT TRACY
The deep divide over LGBTQ
issues in the United
Methodist Church
has prompted the formation
of a breakaway church
called the Global Methodist
Church, which will oppose samesex
marriage.
The latest update, unveiled on
the United Methodist Church website,
was expected since last year
when the Methodist Church announced
the “traditional Methodist”
part of the church would leave
the main church due to differences
over same-sex marriage and LGBTQ
clergy.
The issues have reached a boiling
point by now, but they have
been simmering for years in one
of the United States’ largest denominations.
At the church’s 2019
general conference in St. Louis,
global leaders voted 438-384 to
uphold bans on same-sex marriage
and LGBTQ clergy. Many
Methodist leaders from the United
States voted to take the inclusive,
pro-LGBTQ route, while the opponents
were primarily from other
countries with more conservative
cultures.
The breakup process, however,
has been snarled by the coronavirus
pandemic — and complete
details about the Global Methodist
Church are not yet available.
Leaders were supposed to
hash out the path forward at
last year’s general conference,
but that was postponed. This
year’s meeting was also postponed,
meaning the next conference
is not slated until August
of next year.
Church leaders are also divided
over whether to proceed with
breakup deliberations now or
wait until the next general conference.
The Reconciling Ministries
Network (RMN), which promotes
LGBTQ rights in the Methodist
Church, expressed frustration
over the delay but ultimately
agreed that it would be best to
wait.
“Although these are painful decisions
Pastor Kevin Gruver of Saint Paul’s United Methodist Church in Staten Island last October.
that prolong oppression,
they were also the only right decisions
to make,” the group said
in a written statement.
“To respond faithfully to this
moment, we must hold tight. As
a justice-seeking organization,
RMN supports equity of global
access and deliberation for such
critical legislation that determines
the future of our Church,”
the group added. “We cannot advocate
for a rushed deliberative
process that further strains local
churches engaged in critical ministries
during a pandemic, and
we cannot advocate for a process
that may exclude any part of our
connection due to virtual accessibility.”
Regardless of how it all ends,
some plans are already in place.
Church leaders from the US, Africa,
Europe, and the Philippines
agreed last year to shell out $25
million in Methodist Church
funds to the traditionalist wing
of the church and $2 million
for any congregations that opt
to leave the main church in the
future. Notably, that plan also
called for $39 million in Methodist
Church funds to be steered
to “support communities historically
marginalized by the sin of
racism.”
Reverend Stephen Bauman of
the LGBTQ-friendly Manhattanbased
Christ Church, United
Methodist, said that plan remains
in place.
“I suppose the only ‘surprise’
here is that it comes before the
formal agreements are settled,”
Bauman said. “The conservative
side clearly wanted to move
RELIGION
REUTERS/ANDREW KELLY
forward. But I would point out
that while the new denomination
stands on its own, the assumption
remains that the ‘protocol
of agreement’ will ultimately win
the day when the general conference
fi nally does its thing — and
among other things, that means
$25 million goes to the traditionalists.”
The debate surrounding LGBTQ
inclusion in the Methodist
Church has coincided with dips in
Christianity in the United States.
The last decade has witnessed a
twelve percent decrease in Americans
identifying as Christian,
while there has been a 17 percent
increase in Americans who identify
as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing
in particular,” according to Pew
Research data stemming from
2018 and 2019.
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