After Years of Loud Debate, Conservatives Quietly Split From United Methodist Church

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Logos for the Global Medthodist Church, left, and the United Methodist Church, right. Courtesy images

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Some may wait to see what the United Methodist General Conference decides in 2024.

Until the Global Methodist Church holds its convening conference, the Transitional Leadership Council will conduct background checks on clergy and review information submitted by those hoping to join the new denomination to make sure they align with the Global Methodist Church and its Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline.

The Wesleyan Covenant Association — a group of conservative individuals and churches within the United Methodist Church that Boyette also leads — will consider legislation regarding the “future of the WCA and its leadership,” when it holds its global gathering this weekend, he said.

It will also contribute more than $1 million to the Global Methodist Church from the Next Methodism Fund it created when the protocol was announced, according to Boyette.

The progress toward a new denomination is bittersweet.

“I don’t think anyone is dancing with joy that we are at this place in Methodism. I think there is a sadness that we have come to this and that we find ourselves in this season,” Boyette said.

Bishops echoed that sentiment at last week’s spring meeting of the United Methodist Council of Bishops.

“While I will always wish we could all remain in this church, I’m clear some cannot. I grieve and regret that more than words can express, but I have no interest in serving an echo chamber,” said Bishop Cynthia Fierro-Harvey, outgoing president of the council.

“I am a big-tent church person who believes that every voice is important to the whole, sometimes as annoying as that might be — that every part of the body is important to the whole. I also realize that it might be time to bless and send our sisters and brothers who cannot remain under the big tent,” she said.

As of Sunday, the Global Methodist Church had completed all the necessary steps to be a legal entity, according to its leadership.

And Mannschreck, the pastor of Flushing United Methodist Church, told RNS he was ready to get to work.

He plans to transfer his credentials to the new denomination — but not right away. His congregation will discuss and vote whether to join the Global Methodist Church, too.

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Emily McFarlan Millerhttp://religionnews.com
Emily McFarlan Miller is a national reporter for RNS based in Chicago. She covers evangelical and mainline Protestant Christianity.

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