Thousands of U.S. United Methodist Congregations Leave Denomination Amid Dispute Over LGBTQ Inclusion

More than 7,000 United Methodist congregations in the United States have received approval to leave the denomination since 2019, according to a December 2023 PBS report by Adam Kemp, a communities correspondent based in Oklahoma City. That figure, the report said, is about a quarter of all Methodist churches in the country, and nearly three-quarters of those departures took place that year. A separate report from domradio.de put the total differently, saying the United Methodist Church had lost 8,057 congregations in the United States since 2019.

The departures followed a division within the denomination over theology, specifically how the church should regard LGBTQ+ ministers and congregants, the PBS report said. In 2019, a general conference held in St. Louis allowed individual congregations to vote to disaffiliate. United Methodist leaders later set December 31 as the deadline for congregations to decide whether to leave. Oklahoma was one state where the change was visible: more than 120 congregations there voted to leave the church.

The domradio.de report gave a different breakdown of the same period. It said 6,126 congregations left since 2019 because of what it described as alienation over faith reasons, and that 4,065 congregations resigned in 2023 alone. It also said the church still has 23,279 congregations in the United States. The two reports do not use the same measures, so their totals cannot be directly reconciled from the material provided.

Thomas Bickerton, president of the UMC Bishop’s Council, spoke of great sadness and trauma over the loss of roughly 25 to 30 percent of Methodist churches in the United States, according to domradio.de. He said that discussions about withdrawal often concerned church property, which he described as involving power, control and money. The same report noted that the rule allowing congregations to break ties with the church was set to expire at the end of the year.

Departing congregations went in different directions. The PBS report said the departures gave rise to the Global Methodist Church in the United States. Domradio.de said around half of the outgoing congregations joined the Global Methodist Church, while many others remained independent. The two reports do not give a count for independent congregations.

Bickerton described 2023 as a year of reflection. He said the church now intends to work with its remaining members on what it means to be Methodist today.