A dramatic schism over social issues? The United Methodist Church has been here before – but this time, America’s religious landscape is much different

The United Methodist Church’s General Conference will meet in Charlotte, North Carolina from April 23 to May 4, 2024. Originally scheduled for 2020 and delayed thrice on account of the COVID-19 pandemic, this meeting of the church’s legislative body comes at a critical time for the United States’ second-largest Protestant denomination.

In 2022, conservative Methodists announced a break with the UMC, forming the Global Methodist Church. These leaders believed that the UMC had turn into too liberal, drifting away from orthodoxy. The issue at the guts of the split, nonetheless, revolves across the UMC’s long-standing battle over LGBTQ+ rights.

This denominational split draws comparisons to at least one in 1844, when Methodists divided over slavery. As a scholar of American religious history and Methodist studies, I see parallels but in addition great differences between the present schism and the one in 1844.

Both schisms center on predominant social problems with their eras. The current schism, nonetheless, comes at a time when United Methodists, like other American churches, must navigate a changing religious landscape – one where church membership is declining, especially amongst younger Americans.

Methodist roots

The UMC traces its origins to the 18th-century Anglican clergyman John Wesley, who sought to reinvigorate Anglicans’ sense of private faith.

Emphasizing piety and social engagement, Wesley’s followers spread Methodism throughout the British Isles and North America. As the movement grew, his followers separated from the Anglican Church to form several Methodist denominations.

The first Methodist church within the U.S., the Methodist Episcopal Church, was founded in 1784. This church and smaller Methodist denominations grew rapidly. By 1850, roughly 1 in 3 Americans affiliated with a church was a Methodist.

Today, there are 80 Methodist and Wesleyan denominations around the globe, with the UMC being the biggest.

The 1844 rupture

Like other Protestant churches before the Civil War, Methodists were divided over slavery.

Wesley viewed slavery as an important social evil that deprived enslaved people of God-given human rights. However, U.S. Methodists – including one among the founders of the Methodist Episcopal Church, Francis Asbury – apprehensive that enforcing the church’s prohibitions against slavery would alienate members within the South. For much of the early nineteenth century, Northern and Southern Methodists followed Asbury’s lead, searching for to stop a proper schism.

At the identical time, Methodism fractured. African Americans within the Methodist Episcopal Church were barred from being ordained as ministers, and church members often worshipped in segregated congregations. This led to the formation of many independent African American Methodist churches – the biggest being the African Methodist Episcopal Church, founded by Richard Allen in 1816.

At the 1844 General Conference, the slavery issue boiled over into a serious schism. Delegates voted to remove from office a bishop, James Osgood Andrew, because he owned slaves. Andrew’s removal angered Southern delegates who argued that slavery was sanctioned within the Bible. In 1845, Southern Methodist leaders withdrew from the denomination, forming the Methodist Episcopal Church South.

In 1939, these Northern and Southern churches reunited. Together with one other Protestant denomination with historical ties to Methodism, the Evangelical United Brethren, they then combined to form the UMC in 1968.

Debating homosexuality

In 1972, the General Conference adopted a proper statement asserting that homosexuality was “incompatible with Christian teaching.” Subsequent conferences tightened these restrictions, notably in 1984, when the church barred what it called “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” from being ordained.

Since the Seventies, groups on either side of this issue have mobilized. An organization called the Reconciling Ministries Network has worked to bring together UMC congregations who support the total inclusion of LGBTQ+ people. Conservative groups, meanwhile, corresponding to a caucus called the Good News Movement, have campaigned to implement the present LGBTQ+ prohibitions.

In 1996, the General Conference added laws prohibiting clergy from conducting same-sex weddings – though the number who did so increased significantly.

In recent a long time, members of many U.S. churches, including United Methodists, have shown greater acceptance toward LGBTQ+ people. The 2016 election of Karen Oliveto as the primary openly gay bishop of any gender within the UMC marked these shifting attitudes.

Conservatives proceed to oppose reforms, including a growing variety of United Methodists from outside the U.S – an increasing portion of the church. For example, many African United Methodists come from nations with strict laws banning homosexuality. Of the 862 delegates attending the upcoming General Conference, 380 will probably be from outside the U.S. Nearly 300 of those delegates will come from Africa.

At an impasse

Conflicts between conservatives and progressives got here to a head in 2019, when bishops called a special conference in hopes of stopping a schism.

Their council endorsed what was called the One Church Plan, which might have allowed United Methodists in numerous countries more autonomy. Specifically, they might determine address questions on sexuality.

However, delegates voted overwhelmingly for what was called The Traditional Plan. This kept the church’s restrictions against LGBTQ+ people in place, while calling for more punitive measures against pastors who conducted same-sex weddings.

The 2019 conference then passed a resolution giving local congregations the choice to go away the UMC over matters of sexuality. Congregations got until the top of 2023 to disaffiliate, although the ramifications were to be finalized on the 2020 General Conference.

This session was repeatedly postponed, nonetheless, on account of COVID-19. Doubting that U.S.-based leaders would uphold the prohibitions of the Traditional Plan, a gaggle of conservatives formed the Global Methodist Church in March 2022, triggering an exodus of several local churches. As of early 2024, greater than 7,600 churches have disaffiliated, representing roughly a fourth of United Methodist congregations.

Uncertain future

Ahead of the 2024 General Conference, conservatives have indicated their intention to lobby to increase the deadline for disaffiliation. Some progressive United Methodists, frustrated by the UMC’s persistent refusal to expand LGBTQ+ rights, have considered forming a third Methodist denomination.

Regardless of what happens in Charlotte, Methodist churches will face difficult futures.

Unlike 1844, when many churches were growing rapidly, the present schism comes as American Protestantism is shrinking. This includes not only mainline Protestant denominations, but more conservative churches as well. In 1968, United Methodist membership within the U.S. was 10.3 million; at the top of 2018, it was 6.7 million.

Another serious challenge is the rising percentage of Americans with no religious affiliation, commonly called religious nones – a lot of whom are disillusioned by anti-LGBTQ+ policies.

Regardless of the General Conference’s end result, Methodists face a non secular landscape unknown to their nineteenth century predecessors.