An Illinois-based congregation has agreed to pay more than $1.4 million in order to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church following litigation over who owned its property.
The United Methodist Church’s highest court will soon determine whether congregations can continue to leave the denomination in response to its progressive stance on LGBT issues.
The United Methodist Church has a record low number of elders younger than 35 in part because of the more than 7,500 congregations leaving over its debate on homosexuality, according to a recent report.
A United Methodist Church bishop has been detained in Nigeria, reportedly over a visa dispute, as he traveled to the country amid a debate over who controls the regional denominational body.
Events that occurred this week in Christian history include the first Chinese Methodist convert, the birth of Heinrich Bullinger, and John Hughes becoming the first archbishop of New York.
The Alabama Supreme Court has upheld an earlier ruling against 44 congregations attempting to leave the United Methodist Church over the denomination’s debate on LGBT issues.
As the United Methodist Church recently made decisions at its general conference regarding the ordination of homosexual pastors, among other issues, it has stirred repercussions in Korea, where there are divergent reactions among among Korean-American Methodist pastors.
The United Methodist Church in the Ivory Coast voted on May 28 to exit the denomination. In 2022, this conference reportedly had over 1.2 million members.
A former United Methodist Church pastor who was defrocked about 20 years ago for being in a same-sex romantic relationship has been reinstated by the mainline Protestant denomination.
A Texas megachurch affiliated with the United Methodist Church will continue to prohibit same-sex wedding ceremonies on its property even after the denomination recently voted to allow such marriages.
