The mass exodus of U.S. congregations leaving United Methodism allowed by temporary church law Paragraph 2553 is now concluded, with at least 7,660 churches, more than 25 percent of U.S. churches, having left. It’s numerically the largest church schism in U.S. history.
There is now no denomination-wide official way for churches in United Methodism to exit with their property. Four local conferences claim they will allow exits next year: Rio Texas, Mississippi, South Carolina, and South Georgia. West Virginia claims they will allow their opaque exit process to continue. Alabama-West Florida had adopted a post-2023 disaffiliation policy but more recently has been blocking exits, prompting a lawsuit before the state supreme court.
The number of United Methodist exits exceeds all expectations and is newsworthy for secular media, including The New York Times. Religion reporter Ruth Graham wrote: “The exodus marks a calamitous decline for the broader tradition of mainline Protestantism, which once dominated the American religious, social and cultural landscape.”
Amusingly, Council of Bishops President Thomas Bickerton is quoted saying the exits are slightly more than expected, and claiming: “This is about power, control and money.” The latter seems to be about projection, as bishops and other denominational officials try to maintain the structures of the fast-shrinking denomination.
Graham’s story spotlights White’s Chapel Church in Dallas, which was United Methodism’s second largest congregation until it left. Among reasons for its exit was the $600,000 it paid in annual apportionments to the denomination, without any seeming benefit. “We wanted to see, where was that money going,” a White’s Chapel spokesman said. “We weren’t happy with what we saw.” They and many other exiting former United Methodist churches, too.
Christianity Today also has comprehensive coverage of the 2023 exit conclusion. It noted United Methodism’s schism is more than 10 times larger than other recent Mainline Protestant splits among Presbyterians and Lutherans, which did not exceed 600-700 churches. About 400 churches quit The Episcopal Church.
CT also noted United Methodism’s overseas membership, almost entirely in Africa, now far outnumbers U.S. membership. It quoted Scott Field of the Wesleyan Covenant Association predicting an upcoming “African wave,” with “conservative bishops” leading mass departures.
There are seven million United Methodists in Africa. U.S. church membership, officially pegged at 5.7 million in 2021, is now likely close to four million after exits and preexisting attrition. U.S. progressives hope to keep Africans in United Methodism with a “regionalization plan” allowing the U.S. church to determine its own rules apart from the global church. Many Africans rightly see this proposal as marginalizing them.
The CT article quotes African church leaders saying they reject “the progressive views of the largely white, relatively rich, and declining church in the US.” They now want their own path for formal disaffiliation from United Methodism.
Associated Press offered its own wrap-up of United Methodist exits.
Traditional Methodists whose congregations have successfully exited can be grateful for their own liberation and having 7,660+ fellow churches to help them replant Methodism in America. Other traditional Methodists whose churches could not exit hopefully can find nearby exited churches for worship or help found new churches. Some traditionalists will stay with their old congregations in United Methodism as a faithful witness. Next April-May, when the United Methodist General Conference liberalizes the church’s marriage teachings, many more traditionalists will leave. Some will wonder why their congregations did not leave in 2023 while they still could.
The break-up of United Methodism represents the demise of once paramount Mainline Protestantism in America. Now Methodists and other traditional Protestants will need to rebuild new institutions to transmit the faith that avoid the mistakes that sank the old Mainline.
Comment by Concerned Pastor on December 19, 2023 at 5:40 pm
Bickerton was spot on: “This is about power, control and money.” Of course, he was referring to traditionalists who led the disaffiliation efforts. He is wrong about them. The GMC has no trust clause, limited terms for bishops, and modest apportionments. It is easy for GMC churches to leave with their building in the future if they so desire. It is the UMC, especially the bishops, who were rightly concerned about losing power, control and money. They have taken major losses in all three. And yet the bishops just gave themselves a raise a few weeks back. Sad for the people whose worship has been negatively affected, especially those like 5th Avenue UMC in Wilmington, NC whose church was stolen out from under them by their bishop.
Comment by David on December 20, 2023 at 8:50 am
I suspect many no longer see the need for denominations. Having to pay a form of dues for membership in one is yet another strain on church budgets. The Methodist tradition of itinerant pastors does not always please congregations. They like to keep clergy that please them for as long as possible. Clergy are not always keen to move to lesser venues. Small declining congregations who leave will likely face further hardships.
Comment by Russ on December 20, 2023 at 9:06 am
It is true: You go woke, you go broke! Yall think its about money, its about loyalty to Jesus.
True Christians, who love the Bible and accept its authority, will never accept the LBGT crap the Methodists have been pushing. See Revelation chapters 2-3, when you become a synagogue of Satan and get into bed with Jezebel, Jesus removes your lampstand. The leadership of the UMC is theologically bankrupt. The African Methodists are the true church now. The USA church cares more about public opinion than God’s favor. The good churches will exit, the sucky churches will remain, and they will die soon enough. May God purify HIs church and cause the gospel to become brighter.
Comment by Tim on December 20, 2023 at 9:50 am
Over the past 20 years our local UMC Pastor and wife teams wanted to change so much of what are local church was doing. We had 5 or 6 different pastors. They wanted to change the name of UMYF and be in total control over what was taught and how the youth leaders did UMYF. They wanted to change worship services. Several wanted on to be at every committee meetings with total control. They acted like they were the new management at the local department store. We used to average 250 people in worship 20 years ago. Today 77. We did not disafiliate. About 30 left to start a new Methodist church.
My guess is this happened all over the USA over the past 20 years.
My gu
Comment by Gary on December 20, 2023 at 12:30 pm
If the UMC hierarchy wants to see the problem they should look in a mirror.
Comment by Mike on December 20, 2023 at 1:04 pm
The death of the mainline Protestant churches is the other rail on the track of the death of Modernity. They have run a parallel course, and have finally been shown to be empty vessels.
Now the churches that have separated from them – the GMC, the new Anglican communion, ECO (former PCUSA) and Lutheran bodies – can rebuild theologically rich and fruitful new communities of faith rooted in orthodoxy and their various unique branches of the Body of Christ.
The GMC will be the largest of these, numerically (at least for now). It will be interesting to see if this new “shoot from the stump of Jesse” can “branch out” effectively and reach the current culture for Christ.
Comment by Corvus Corax on December 20, 2023 at 4:22 pm
Many small congregations were unable to pay the ransom. I suspect they will disappear altogether as their individual members “disaffiliate” when the general conference ratifies gay supremacy in 2024.
Comment by Anthony on December 22, 2023 at 6:31 pm
“Now Methodists and other traditional Protestants will need to rebuild new institutions to transmit the faith that avoid the mistakes that sank the old Mainline.”
The Big Mistake: Abandonment of God, Jesus Christ the Messiah, and The Gospel — while embracing a modern version of paganism with the LGBTQ+ movement and gender identity as its idols.
Comment by David B Scott on December 23, 2023 at 12:01 pm
Looking back at the schism and the destruction it has wrought not only on the UMC and Christianity in general, I am reminded of the quotation: “An evil man will burn his own nation to the ground to rule over the ashes.” ~ Sun Tzu History will not be kind to IRD for this same misguided reason.
Comment by John on December 23, 2023 at 1:16 pm
As a life long Methodist it breaks my heart to not go there anymore. My wife and I didn’t leave the UMC the UMC left us. We didn’t break our vows the “church “ broke theirs. The church hierarchy destroyed the denomination by rejecting biblical doctrine and embracing evil doctrine. Our small congregation didn’t even have a vote to leave the 1/4 time pastor said we need to make disciples instead of leaving it is a hard decision to make in a small community seeing brothers and sisters in Christ around town and them thinking they did something wrong to offend us. No they didn’t do anything wrong it was bishop Oliveto and her cohorts that totally ignored the Bible and book of discipline by supporting doctrine of demons. I foresee the UMC becoming more irrelevant and loosing most of the remaining members in the small communities as the believers die off. Sad to see and I’m glad to see there is a strong remnant ready to do Jesus Christ’s will in the Methodist tradition.
Comment by Palamas on December 23, 2023 at 4:18 pm
“History will not be kind to IRD for this same misguided reason.”
Right. IRD has been trying for forty years to get UMC to stop jumping off a cliff, stop driving away members, stop alienating those loyal to historic Christianity, but the leadership just kept driving inexorably off the cliff, driving away members, and spitting on the historic faith. But it’s the IRD that wanted to burn the church down. So what color is the sky in the alternate dimension you inhabit?
Comment by Tim Ware on December 23, 2023 at 9:18 pm
I have seen over and over again in the mainline churches that whenever the denominational leadership wants to change Christian doctrine to make it current with whatever is current in society (and they always do that), they use “Jesus wants us all to be one” as a club to try to whip those of us who won’t go along into line.
It has always been amazing to me that whenever society changes direction on something, mainline Christianity is always magically able to “discover” the “proper” interpretation of the Bible, which has been hidden for 2000 years, and it is always an interpretation that just happens to align with the new societal direction.
Everyone over the past 2000 years has been wrong, and we are the first ones in Christian history to finally discover the truth.
Comment by Diane on January 1, 2024 at 2:45 am
Amusing comments being posted about churches accepting lgbtq people as “woke” congregations and all that’s wrong with Methodists. I’m 75 years old this year and in the small southern town where I live, it’s First UMC, a prestigious “downtown” church, that’s had the most gay pastors of any church in town. They were of course all closeted to their congregations, but very “out” among their lgbtq friends and allies. Their congregants loved them. Lgbtq people obviously aren’t the problem.