About 261 congregations disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church on Saturday after the decision was approved by the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.
“I realize how sad this time is for many, including myself,” Bishop Robin Dease, the conference leader, said. “I just hate that those who are leaving us, I will not have the opportunity to meet or to be with.”
The decision follows a schism in the UMC in recent years when it comes to the blessing of same-sex marriage and the ordination of gay clergy. Both practices are forbidden in the UMC’s Book of Discipline.
Multiple churches have voted to depart from the UMC following a decision in 2019 in which congregations are allowed to leave by the end of 2023 “for reasons of conscience regarding a change in the requirements and provisions of the Book of Discipline related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of self-avowed practicing homosexuals.”
Last year, a number of theology-conservative congregations departing from the UMC formed the new denomination, Global Methodist Church.
According to the UMC’s website, more than 6,000 congregations out of 30,000 in the U.S. have…
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