The United Methodist Church (UMC) has faced a growing divide in recent years as conservative Methodist congregations push back against liberal ones they claim are being disobedient to the Bible and church policy.
The split has been brewing for 50 years as the once-conservative church is now grappling with the issue of homosexuality and progressive Methodists’ determination to be ‘inclusive’ regarding LGBTQ members and gay marriage.
The History
At the United Methodist Church’s 1972 meeting, the Church added what they thought was a compromise on the issue of homosexuality: an amendment to the faith group’s doctrinal stances that said all people were created equal by God, but that homosexuality was nonetheless “incompatible” with Christian beliefs.
“We do not condone the practice of homosexuality, and consider this practice incompatible with Christian doctrine.”
That 16-word addition, known as the “incompatibility clause,” has grown more contentious in the 50 years since, as Americans — including many Methodists — increasingly accept same-sex marriage. Meanwhile, the denomination has increasingly expanded globally, giving more voice to voting blocs from conservative countries. And, after the United States legalized same-sex marriage, American ministers were forced to decide whether they’d condone it.
At a special session of the General Conference in 2019, the UMC voted 438-384 to uphold the church’s ban on ordaining LGBTQ clergy and officiating at or hosting same-sex marriages.
But far from settling the issue, however, the 2019 vote has been disregarded by many liberal leaders within the UMC who have opted to stay in the denomination while commissioning openly gay clergy and officiating same-sex weddings anyway. Sound familiar? It should. This is rebellion and apostate Protestantism on steroids.
Thomas Lambrecht, the vice president of the denomination's Good News caucus, said at the time that the progressives in the UMC who chose to defy the church instead of leaving have rendered it "essentially ungovernable."
Disaffiliation
The Methodist General Conference also adopted a disaffiliation agreement in 2019 that offered a runway for churches to leave the denomination through the end of 2023 "for reasons of conscience" related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of "self-avowed practicing homosexuals," which is forbidden in the church's Book of Discipline.
Many conservative Methodist church congregations are now disaffiliating themselves as the divide worsens.
Last week, 493 Methodist churches in Texas voted to leave their parent denomination, the United Methodist Church (UMC). Their decision followed the mass exodus of Methodist congregations in other Southern states, including North Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia, Arkansas and Florida.
In the biggest day yet for the ongoing United Methodist split in Alabama, 198 congregations officially left the denomination after a vote by the North Alabama Conference meeting yesterday at the BJCC to approve their departure.
The 198 churches voted by 66.7 percent or more to leave the denomination, either to become independent or join more conservative denominations where traditional Christian bans on same-sex marriage are not up for debate.
Seven of the churches departing in Alabama claim more than 1,000 on membership rolls: Asbury in Madison with 3,504 members; Vestavia Hills (3,274), Clearbranch (2,380), Guntersville First (1,716), Cove at Owens Cross Roads (1,483), Hartselle First (1,188), and St. Mark in Northport (1,154).
Conclusions
At first blush, this might seem like an issue that’s peripheral to American politics — a purely religious matter. But it’s actually an indicator of just how fractured our neo-pagan culture has become. And if history is any indication, it’s about to get even worse.
Giving the current state of political polarization in America, it’s worth revisiting the history of the 1840’s when some churches in the south were polarized over slavery. Following that, America plunged into civil war.
The United States is not likely staring down the barrel of a second civil war, but in the past, when churches split over politics, it was a sign that that country was fast coming apart at the seams. This is now reality.
Today, churches are experiencing the strain of debates over sex, gender and culture that reflect America’s deep partisan and ideological divide. In a polarizing country with a shrinking center, even bonds of religious fellowship are tenuous when it comes to fidelity to the Word of God. If history is any guide, it’s a sign of sharper polarization to come. It is also happening in the Adventist church.
According to Adventist eschatology, one marker of the endtimes is apostate Protestantism. Exchanging the truth of God for a lie concerning human sexuality and gender distinctions is classic biblical apostasy (Romans 1:25-32). Avoid it all costs, friends.
Walk with the King, and be a blessing!
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