Deadly violence in Nigeria linked to breakup of United Methodist Church over LGBTQ policies
AP A religious schism has turned deadly in Nigeria, with a church member fatally shot and two young children killed as homes were set ablaze, according to United Methodist News Service. The news service said the reported violence on Sunday stemmed from a schism in the worldwide United Methodist Church over its decision to repeal […]
The Global Methodist Church will meet in Costa Rica. Sexuality is not on the agenda
United States RNS Sexuality won’t be on the agenda when members of the nascent Global Methodist Church convene for the first time from 20th to 26th September in San Jose, Costa Rica. The breakaway denomination established by departing United Methodist churches two years ago will instead adopt a constitution and iron out its governance structure. […]
United Methodists: As a landmark gathering approaches, African churches weigh their future.
PETER SMITH, of Associated Press, reports on how African Methodists are responding to the UMC’s dispute over sexuality and theology…
Essay: A dramatic schism over social issues? The United Methodist Church has been here before – but this time, America’s religious landscape is far different
CHRISTOPHER H EVANS, in an article first published on The Conversation, looks at the parallels between the current UMC schism and that which took place in 1844…
In the US, the United Methodist Church has lost a quarter of its churches – most in the South
United States RNS Americans looking to understand the ways political polarization has defined US voting patterns need look no further than the divisions in the United Methodist Church. Five years after allowing churches to leave with their properties if they disagreed with the direction the denomination was heading on human sexuality, the results of the […]
United Methodist Church: One fourth of churches in US have left in schism over LGBTQ ban. What happens now?
PETER SMITH, of Associated Press, reports on the growing number of congregations leaving the denomination…
The Long Read: Four ways to leave your denomination – How churches are disaffiliating from the UMC
To date, 5,550 of the United Methodist Church’s approximately 30,000 US churches have disaffiliated from the country’s second-largest Protestant denomination since 2019. EMILY MCFARLAN MILLER and BELYNN HOLLERS, of Religion News Service, report…
In the US, breakaway Texas UMC megachurch reveals plans for new Methodist denomination
Southlake, Texas, US RNS Last year, White’s Chapel, a large congregation in a wealthy suburb outside of Dallas, overwhelmingly voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church. Today, the church, which draws more than 2,000 people on a Sunday, belongs to a denomination of one, a network it is calling the Methodist Collegiate Church. White’s Chapel […]
UMC bishops request 2026 General Conference as hundreds more churches disaffiliate
Chicago, US RNS United Methodist bishops have proposed a five-day meeting of the denomination’s global decision-making body, the General Conference, in May, 2026. The announcement comes at the end of the Council of Bishops’ spring meeting last week in Chicago and a weekend that saw hundreds of United Methodist churches in the United States […]
United Methodist bishops meet, look to pivot after 2,400+ churches disaffiliate
Chicago, US RNS About 100 active and retired United Methodist bishops from across the globe are meeting this week in Chicago for the first time in person since the COVID-19 pandemic and since the launch one year ago of the Global Methodist Church, a conservative denomination formed for United Methodist churches looking to disaffiliate over […]