IRD’s Top Stories 2023

Articles related to United Methodist discipline, disaffiliation, excesses, and growth of the Global Methodist Church were among readers’ favorites as Juicy Ecumenism closed out another year as the Institute on Religion & Democracy blog of church and culture news and opinion.

Below are the most widely read articles, in ascending order.

10. Why the United Methodist Church is REALLY Splitting: The Big-Picture History

Among our top articles for 2023 was a piece first published in 2021. UMAction Director John Lomperis’ speech for the Missouri chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association gave a bird’s-eye-view of the long history that has led the United Methodist Church to its present point of division. Lomperis’ presentation has been widely shared among lay leaders.

9. Global Methodists do Annual Conference Differently

History was made in October as pastors and lay members from hundreds of Global Methodist congregations convened for the inaugural session of the Allegheny West Provisional Annual Conference, encompassing Ohio plus the western third of Pennsylvania. “So many have been working and yearning for this day for years,” enthused the Rev. Dr. Jessica LaGrone, Asbury Theological Seminary’s Dean of the Chapel. The conference concluded with reportedly the largest group of Methodist ministers ever ordained in North America.

8. Compilation of United Methodist False Teachings by Top Denominational Leaders

Most active United Methodist bishops and a great many district superintendents have been complicit in bringing about the de facto reality of the UMC’s on-paper moral and doctrinal standards becoming increasingly meaningless. John Lomperis documents how those elevated to the highest positions of teaching authority have publicly repudiated basic, foundational Christian doctrine about the authority of Scripture or the eternal divinity, sinless perfection, or miraculous resurrection of Jesus Christ.

7. How Big is the United Methodist Split So Far?

Liberal United Methodist officials tried to discourage congregational disaffiliation from the UMC and to scare people away from the Global Methodist Church by suggesting that few were doing the former or joining the latter. This August article documented the numbers behind what sociology professor and religion statistics guru Ryan Burge observed “can only be described as the largest denominational schism in the last fifty years.”

6. Issues Behind the Increasingly Nasty United Methodist Church Divorce

The United Methodist Church’s divorce and the issues behind it were covered in a March op-ed that John Lomperis authored for the Washington Examiner, briefly summarizing the range of theological and social issues dividing the two main factions of the UMC.

5. Asbury Revival a ‘Spontaneous Outpouring‘

In February, students at Asbury University engaged in what was described by some participants as an organic, unplanned revival that went on to draw worldwide media attention. In the first week, I interviewed students, professors, and alumni about both the context of revival at the historic Wesleyan university and what was surprisingly occurring on the Wilmore, Kentucky campus. The student-led revival spread to other schools among Generation Z participants ‘Hungry for It’ I reported later that month.

4. Rulings Strike Blows Against United Methodist Disobedience Movement, Abeyances

Rulings from the UMC Judicial Council dealt significant blows against the United Methodist disobedience movement, limiting the tools rogue liberal bishops have used to promote unbiblical standards, and giving tools to United Methodists demanding accountability.

3. Progressive United Methodists Cannot Have It Both Ways

Ministry Matters, a website of the United Methodist Publishing House, published John Lomperis article on areas of misunderstanding and misinformation in the season of disaffiliation.

2. New Town Church’s Open Letter to United Methodists

When a Virginia United Methodist congregation had its property taken away and its pastor abruptly removed, the bulk of its members began worshiping at a new location. In a post shared as part of the Methodist Voices series, Pastor Greg West and the congregation’s leadership board chair set the record straight about misinformation used to justify how the congregation was punitively singled out.

1. It May Happen to You, Too: Bishop Connie Shelton Shows Danger of Staying United Methodist

When newly elected Bishop Connie Shelton began leadership of the (eastern) North Carolina Annual Conference, she ambushed an historic, conservative congregation with the announcement that she was abruptly shutting it down, while seizing its property and assets. The article was so widely shared that a Google search of Shelton’s name lists it among the first results. With more than three times the readers of the next most-read article, this report by John Lomperis accounted for nearly 8 percent of IRD’s website traffic in 2023.