Another Half Million Reportedly Exit United Methodism

Reportedly United Methodism in Nigeria, early this month, voted unanimously to leave The United Methodist Church in response to the denomination’s liberalizing on sexuality last month. According to 2022 data, there are nearly 600,000 United Methodists in Nigeria. The Nigerian United Methodist website claims 1 million members.

That same United Methodist 2022 data reported 1.2 million members in Ivory Coast, which voted May 28 to exit United Methodism.  On May 30, the Rwanda Provisional Annual Conference also voted to leave the United Methodist Church. In 2022 it has 4,469 members. Since the 2024 United Methodist General Conference, which adjourned May 3, deleted the church’s traditional sexuality standards, 1.8 million church members in Africa have resolved to exit United Methodism, based on 2022 data, if the report of Nigeria’s vote is accurate. At least several million more church members remain in Africa, whose plans are not yet apparent.

According to one document, 912 delegates met June 1 at Jalingo, Taraba State, in Nigeria, for a special called meeting of the United Methodist Episcopal Area of Nigeria, which includes four conferences, under Bishop John Wesley Johanna. 

Their reportedly unanimous resolution said United Methodism has adopted “cultural values divergent from our own” and “prioritizes the LGBTQ community over the traditional beliefs held by many in Nigeria.”  The Nigerians, “standing on the true Word of God,” voted to “leave the United Methodist Church pending the determination of litigations.” United Methodism’s governing General Conference, April 23-May 3, deleted the denomination’s specific disapproval of adultery, premarital/extramarital sex, and homosexual behavior from its Book of Discipline.

It’s not clear whether Nigeria’s four annual conferences must also affirm exiting the denomination, and under what process Nigeria is exiting. The “litigations” may refer to a dissident faction in Nigeria that split from Bishop Yohanna several years ago and now professes to be the true United Methodist Church in Nigeria. Headed by the Rev. Ande I. Emmanuel, the dissident group may have several dozen clergy. Apparently Emmanuel’s group has subsequently lost in a court ruling.

Emmanuel denies the Nigerian church, has voted to leave United Methodism, and he has denied that United Methodism sexually liberalized in May. His reasoning presumably is that he, and not Bishop Johanna, represents the true church. And he prefers to stress that the United Methodist General Conference preliminarily approved a plan to allow regions, such as Africa, to have their own standards on sexuality and other issues.

A Lutheran pastor who works for United Methodist Communications denies that Nigeria has voted to exit United Methodism. But United Methodist News Service has not yet published any story.

Membership data in March 2022 from the United Methodist General Council on Finance and Administration reported 6,268,310 members in the U.S. and 7,041,266 members overseas, nearly all in Africa. The United Methodist Church website now reports 5,424,043 members in the U.S., which does not account for many if not most of the exiting and closed churches of 2022-2024, which had nearly 1.5 million members. It reports 4,560,882 overseas members, without explaining the large difference with the 2022 number.

Almost certainly many more United Methodist regions in Africa will decide about their future in coming weeks and months.

UPDATE [8/9/2024]: The Transitional Leadership Council of the Global Methodist Church has welcomed the four Nigerian annual conferences and Bishop Yohanna into the GMC.