Articles relating to the disaffiliation of local United Methodist Churches from the denomination because of conscience related to the full inclusion and participation of "homosexual" persons, including especially Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Christians in the UMC. You can find background on this here.
Update, September, 2022: A United Methodist News review of U.S. annual conference reports, publicly available journals and the special sessions held so far shows that conferences have ratified about 680 church disaffiliations since 2019... More detail.
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By Heather Hahn
Feb. 9, 2022 | UM News
The United Methodist Church’s top court released six decisions Feb. 9 related to a new provision governing how congregations can leave the denomination with property.
All six rulings from the United Methodist Judicial Council stem from questions of law raised about the Book of Discipline’s new Paragraph 2553 — approved by the 2019 Special General Conference in St. Louis.
Passed during the same legislative assembly that strengthened church bans against same-sex weddings and “self-avowed practicing” gay clergy, the church law allows congregations to exit with property for “reasons of conscience” related to homosexuality if they meet certain requirements.
In a subscription e-mail on April 8, 2022, Cynthia Astle, Editor of UM-Insight.net, gave a commentary on disaffiliation blog exchanges:
The disaffiliation process came under heavy discussion in a series of blog posts. The Rev. Chris Ritter of ‘People Need Jesus' blog kicked off the debate with “The Deficiencies of Disaffiliation.”
These churches have put together a web site with some very helpful list of resources and curriculum for study of disaffiliation, including this FAQ.
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2019
CONTACT
Rev. Will Green
774-212-0900 •
Nine New England Congregations Begin Process of Discernment
Regarding Disaffiliation from The United Methodist Church
Nine United Methodist congregations from the New England Conference have notified Bishop Sudarshana Devadhar of their intention to begin an eight-month process of discernment regarding disaffiliation from The United Methodist Church, indicating that their understanding of human sexuality and God’s inclusive love is in direct and potentially irreconcilable conflict with the policies and practices of The United Methodist Church.
By Linda Bloom
Oct. 25, 2019 | UM News (original here)
The United Methodist Judicial Council is likely to consider the effects of improper voting on legislation that allows churches to leave the denomination.
An amended request from the Council of Bishops now asks the denomination’s top court to consider the implications of the General Conference Commission’s finding that four ineligible voters cast a ballot during votes on that disaffiliation legislation.
Jeremy Smith, pastor and blogger of HackingChristianity.net, writes his response to the statement by the Extended Cabinet of the California-Nevada UMC. The annual conferences in the Western Jurisdiction took a variety of stances and actions, most of which were against the decisions of the 2019 Special General Conference in one way or another. Here are some highlights:
From the start, the document places connectionalism above justice, unity above integrity, and ironically places unity AS dogma: higher than anything else. If the UMC rescinded clergywomen’s rights or restructured the conferences based on ethnicity, would those be deal-breakers to unity?...
Read more: Responding to California-Nevada Allegations against Disaffiliation and Apportionments