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  • The Independent

    One fourth of United Methodist churches in US have left in schism over LGBTQ ban. What happens now?

    by Peter Smith Dec 15, 2023 5 minutes
    Source: Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

    A quarter of U.S. congregations in the United Methodist Church have received permission to leave the denomination during a five-year window, closing this month, that authorized departures for congregations over disputes involving the church's LGBTQ-related policies.

    This year alone, 5,641 congregations received permission from their regional conferences to leave the denomination as of Thursday, according to an unofficial tally by United Methodist News. In total, 7,658 have received permission since 2019. Thursday marked the last scheduled regional vote, according to the news service, when the Texas Annual Conference authorized four congregations’ departures.

    The vast major are conservative-leaning churches responding to what they see as the United Methodists' failure to enforce bans on same-sex marriage and the ordaining of openly LGBTQ persons.

    The new year is expected to bring more changes.

    The first denomination-wide legislative

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