The Methodists’ Great Divorce

The United Methodist Church is in the midst of a split. Some churches and clergy have bought into the LGBT agenda, while others are resisting it. While this is a liberal mainline denomination, it has more conservative elements.

I had heard that the split was initially amicable. However, when the leaders in charge understood how many churches would be leaving the denomination, they decided to make it much more challenging for churches to leave. The issue is who owns and controls church property. In most hierarchical denominations, it is the central office that controls the property.

The Western Conference in North Carolina is making it difficult for the more conservative Methodist churches to assume control of church property. A bounty is being demanded.

It is very interesting that the major liberal mainline denominations– the Episcopalians, the Presbyterian Churches USA, the Methodists– have all followed this path. They claim to be kind and loving and generous, but then demand a boatload of money when one of its congregations decides to leave the fold because of heresy.

This is one of the reasons I think the congregational method of doing church– i.e., control and ownership of church property, and direction of church affairs at the level of the congregation— is a superior method. There is no perfect model, and there are pluses and minuses, but the congregational model avoids the awfulness we are seeing unfold among the Methodists.