Over one million members of the United Methodist Church are estimated to have left since 2022. Many have left over the issue of homosexuality which threatens to tear the Church apart. Can it survive? And is Christianity entering a ‘post-denominational era’ in America?
This week I joined Associate Editor Damian Thompson of The Spectator‘s Holy Smoke religion podcast to discuss. Our conversation is below, I hope you find it informative and enjoyable.
More from IRD:
Why Am I Still United Methodist?
Comment by Qohelet on April 14, 2026 at 8:36 am
I simply cannot believe how pathetic and cowardly the IRD has been over the past week.
In the past week, the Christian Right, lead by its MAGA president, has threatened genocide as part of a holy war, mocked Islam, been rebuked by the Pope, attacked the Pope repeatedly, and inspired the American Catholic Bishops to speak out that their job is to defend the gospel and that they’re not political. What is the response from the “Institute for Religion and Democracy?” Complete silence. And after a week the first thing you post is a retread about how the Christian Left is destroying mainline protestantism?
Jeff Walton was right about one thing last week. All y’all are good at playing Pontius Pilate. But at this point admitting that right-wing Christianity is the one destroying the gospel is the least you could do.
Comment by Tim on April 14, 2026 at 8:42 am
Out of roughly 30,000 UMC churches around 2019 we have had roughly 8,000 leave the UMC. Does that mean roughly 2,000 churches have been closed by UMC or are those 2,000 churches gone independent? And how many UMC churches have closed since 2019?
If in a decade we see the UMC becoming irrelevant then many churches will close in the future. That could be a story to write annually.
Comment by David on April 14, 2026 at 9:00 am
In addition to church politics, leaving the Methodist Church means the congregation no longer has to pay the denominational dues. This is a windfall for some at a time of declining church membership. I suspect that if the merger of the ME Church South and the ME Church had not taken place in 1939, these matters would not have arisen. The Roman Catholic Church has not liberalized regarding homosexuality and has experienced a loss of members.
Comment by Different Steve on April 14, 2026 at 9:48 am
I actually listened to the podcast and I didn’t think that the provocative title actually reflects the nature of the conversation which is mostly about what it’s like to attend church in a dying denomination. It was pleasant enough and not everything has to be cutting edge or stressful. Life goes on even if things in the middle east are a roller coaster ride at the moment. Things are roller coaster rides a lot of places for that matter. We probably disagree about which places so not going there.
Comment by Different Steve on April 14, 2026 at 10:25 am
Focusing only on the United States, the pattern is fairly clear: both Catholics and mainline Protestants are declining, but mainline Protestant churches are declining faster and farther.
1. Overall trend in U.S. religion
Since roughly the 1960s–70s:
All major “institutional” churches have lost share.
The fastest growth category has been the religiously unaffiliated (“nones”).
2. Catholic Church in the U.S.
The Catholic Church remains:
The largest single religious body in the country.
Membership trend
Catholic population share was fairly stable for a long time (~25% of U.S. adults for decades).
In the last ~10–15 years:
It has slipped somewhat (recent surveys often put it closer to ~20–22% of adults).
Mass attendance has fallen more sharply than affiliation.
Key pattern
Many people still identify as Catholic culturally.
But active participation (weekly attendance, sacraments) has declined significantly.
Growth vs loss
Immigration (especially from Latin America) has softened the decline in numbers.
Without immigration, the decline would look more severe.
3. Mainline Protestant churches (U.S.)
This includes:
United Methodist Church (United States)
Episcopal Church (United States)
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Membership trend
These groups peaked mid-20th century.
Since then, they’ve experienced continuous long-term decline, often:
losing 50% or more of membership over several decades (varies by denomination).
The decline has been steady and structural, not cyclical.
Key pattern
Lower retention of people raised in the church.
Fewer young adults entering.
Aging congregations dominate many regions.
Comment by Wilson R. on April 14, 2026 at 2:22 pm
@ David:
To add a little more context to what you say about “denominational dues”:
Yes, congregations can save money on apportionments, as they’re called, by leaving the denomination. However, leaving isn’t the only option for churches that find it difficult to pay the full amount (which is based on a percentage of the congregation’s annual budget and used to be based on the size of their membership). Typically, the district superintendent and bishop will work with a congregation that struggles to pay the apportioned amount. They will tell them just to pay what they can or even not to pay anything for a year or two. You will see this quite often in congregations with declining membership but with an old and expensive-to-maintain building. And many conferences within the UMC have never required congregations to pay apportionments in full, and so even some of the largest and wealthiest congregations might vote to pay only 50%.
In a connectional system like the UMC, apportionments help fund denominational efforts, everything from disaster relief through UMCOR to UM boards and agencies to a Methodist university in Zimbabwe. I think in some cases, the churches leaving the denomination resent paying apportionments not just because of the cost but because they think they are helping to support other segments of the UMC they might regard as too liberal for them. And this has been a problem for decades. My father was a Methodist minister. In 1960, there was a crisis in the church he pastored because the treasurer was an ardent racist. He wouldn’t send in the congregation’s apportionments because he claimed some of the money would benefit Black people. He also happened to be the banker in a small farming town, and most of the local farmers had loans outstanding to his bank, so he had leverage on them to go along. It wasn’t easy, but they replaced him as the treasurer and paid their apportionments.
Comment by Amor Dei on April 14, 2026 at 7:54 pm
@Qohelet You going to be OK? Trump lives rent free in the Left’s minds. You like to think that conservatives worship him like you worship the Democrat party. You contrive this boogy man called the Christian right when all the violence is coming from the Left.
I can hardly tell the difference between progressive Christians and secular liberals. Just because you call something love and use Jesus’ name does not mean you have God’s endorsement.
How about leaving children along instead of grooming them in the LGBT lifestyle? How about stop proliferating homosexuality which is physically and spiritually destructive? You care more about sexuality than Christ.
I pray you see the error of your ways. The UMC is dying and it won’t stop soon. Many more will leave once the lawsuits are over win, lose, or draw.
Comment by Qohelet on April 14, 2026 at 9:08 pm
Dude no one in the UMC is grooming children. Trump and Hegseth and Israel sure are killing them though, by the hundreds. Which caused the Pope to speak out… But again, radio silence from the IRD.
Radio silence when Trump posted a photo of himself as Jesus.
Radio silence when Vance said the church should stick to moral issues and leave policy issues to the president.
The Christian Right has abandoned any pretense of serving Jesus at this point and the people here are smart enough to know it. They’re just cowards and don’t want to admit that their culture wars have created an absolute monster.
Comment by Wilson R. on April 15, 2026 at 9:28 am
Let’s talk about derangement syndrome. Grooming children? Proliferating homosexuality? Caring more about sexuality than Christ? I have to wonder whether you people have actually been inside any of the UMC congregations you deride as anti-Christian. This site and some of its contributors foment this derangement by continually publishing images and claims that misrepresent the typical UMC worship experience: men in dresses leading worship, mimes in white makeup, podiums filled with rows of pastors wearing rainbow stoles.
The truth is that you could go into most UMC congregations, even very liberal ones, and never see anything like that. Before the split, I could attend services and Sunday School at my parents’ old UMC congregation in conservative, small-town Central Texas and my own UMC congregation in a large, liberal city and notice no differences except superficial ones. I have deep experience with both churches. Never have I heard even a mention of sexuality. In neither place were there rainbow banners outside or any other welcoming symbols based on sexual identity. I never experienced anything at my parents’ old church that would have led me to think that 95% of them would vote to disaffiliate from the UMC, as they did a couple of years ago. Had he still been living, the vote would have broken the heart of my dad, a UM pastor who was politically and socially conservative and who was not comfortable with the idea of LGBT pastors or even openly gay members of the church. When I have visited their old church since the split, I don’t notice any differences in worship services except they no longer use the United Methodist hymnal. Nor would members there find anything they were likely to object to as “liberal” in my urban UMC congregation.
But sites like this one inflame the derangement syndrome by leading readers to believe that the typical UMC congregation these days is a hotbed of LGBT “grooming” and wild radicalism. And it’s not.
IRD should stop bearing false witness.
Comment by Skipper on April 15, 2026 at 9:32 am
Someone could do an article on the “Fallen Denominations” that accept sexual perversion, like Episcopal, United Methodist, USA Presbyterian, etc. and which denominations still hold to Biblical values. Actually, the denomination tells you right off what they believe. You don’t get that with non-denomination churches.
Comment by Gary Bebop on April 15, 2026 at 11:34 am
The decline of United Methodism is sharply outlined by the quackery in the responses to Mark Tooley. The fury expended on defending the overt trajectory of the UMC is telling. Obsession with novelty is ruining the UMC in the root. Mark Tooley knows the true score, and he is undaunted in reporting it. “Nothing is hidden that will not be revealed.”
Comment by Td on April 15, 2026 at 11:35 am
I don’t know about grooming children, but they certainly are not teaching that homisexual acts are sinful. But, yes, these denominations are no longer christian for 2 reasons, each of which are disqualifying on their own.
1. They do not conform to the Nicene Creed.
2. They do not adhere to Christian morality on sex acts.
You could probably add in a third- they deny the natural law.
These groups may not like this, but these are objective realities. You simply are not christian if you deny any part of the nicene creed, or you are denying the sinfulness sexual acts outside of Male/female marriage.
Comment by Skipper on April 15, 2026 at 2:56 pm
Wilson, just because they don’t have men in dresses doesn’t mean they don’t support such. Most of the UMC churches near me approve of the gay lifestyle whether they are quiet about it or not. The minister at my former UMC church wouldn’t let the Bible be read in a Bible Study on the subject, including Romans 1 and 1 Corinthians 5 and 6. Seriously, he would not let God’s Word be read aloud at church!
Comment by Qohelet on April 15, 2026 at 7:52 pm
You all are cowards too because you just want to talk about gay people and won’t say a word about the dead children.
On judgment day, God isn’t going to ask you about whether you hated the gay people in my church enough. He is going to ask you why you voted for and supported people that drop bombs on children and who claim to be doing it in His name.
Comment by Different Steve on April 16, 2026 at 10:01 am
Pro abortion and euthanasia activist says what? Nothing to answer for there!
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on April 16, 2026 at 12:49 pm
Qohelet,
I agree with you. Whether or not one supports homosexuality, any sane person should be able to admit that there’s a big moral difference between the wholesale slaughter of human beings in the name of “god,” which is what we are seeing in the Middle East, done by Israel and the United States, and homosexuality. In one, we’re talking about who people have sex with. In another, we’re talking about the wholesale slaughter of human beings.
I also agree with you that what these people have done will follow them into eternity.
I’ll say to the people who are so hung up on their opposition to homosexuality–if your “god” believes homosexuality is worse than slaughtering human beings, then I want nothing to do with your “god.”
Comment by Amor Dei on April 17, 2026 at 12:27 am
@Qohelet I beg to differ. Endorsing LGBT+ endeavors such as encouraging children to explore their gender identity and creating so-called safe spaces to support clear confusion is nothing short of grooming and abuse. This is only magnified by theology and ethics that support transitioning. The commentor Wilson claims that the typical UMC experience strays from these sort of policies and positions but that is special pleading. The overarching message and position of the denomination is whole cloth acceptance of the LGBT+ community.
Next, you keep bringing up Trump. I get the impression that your hatred for Trump far surpasses anything else in your life. I have seen numerous conservatives call out Trump on a number of issues including the recent picture of himself depicted as Jesus. You claim the Christian Right has abandoned Jesus but there is virtually no difference between most progressives and secular atheists. You have the same values, the same ethics, the same politics, and the same goals.
What strikes me as sad is that Christians are supposed to build the kingdom of God by instilling the ethics and values of God into the world to nurture transformation. Yet the progressive church is striving to build the kingdom of man by transforming the church into the world. It is not mistake that the same values progressive churches support are the current issues advocated in secular society—issues that contradict the history, tradition, and orthodoxy of the church.
Conservatives abhor violence and war more than you assume. Many America first conservatives do not even want to be in conflict with Iran because they grow tired of America going out of its way for other nations because they believe it should take care of its own first and foremost. My question is where was this outrage from the Left when Obama was killing children with drone strikes? Where was this outrage when Hamas attacked Israel and murdered 1,200 innocent men, women, and children (not to mention raping them)? All I heard was “Free Palestine!” Where was this outrage when Biden was sending Ukraine hundreds of billions of dollars that was in part spent on weapons, training, and other war-related endeavors? It seems that if Trump is not involved than it’s a righteous cause and morally permissible, but if Trump is involved it’s evil and reprehensible.
That’s the problem with progressive Christianity. Despite all its talk about Christian nationalism I find that the Left are the most politically incensed and violent class of people i.e., violent riots, mass shootings, and assignations or assassination attempts.
Comment by Amor Dei on April 17, 2026 at 12:38 am
@Glenn Wheeler I think this is illustrative of the problem I see on the Left. Yes, murder of any kind is evil and reprehensible but your position is flawed for a number of reasons.
First, because you cannot create a hierarchy of right and wrong and only hold disdain for what you consider the most egregious. The wholesale slaughter that you mentioned is certainly something terrible and against God’s will. Though that does not invalidate the sinfulness of homosexuality.
Second, the Left is so preoccupied with moral politics that it has completely neglected the spiritual condition of people and therefore user in the ruination of people’s souls. I am aware that the Left likes to conflate social justice with holiness but they are not the same nor is that what John Wesley even meant when he said “there is no holiness but social holiness.”
Third, it matters very much who people have sex with. The Bible is replete with admonitions and commandments. In the New Testament alone there are fifty verses on the subject regarding topics like sexual fornication and morality. God has laid out His expectations and it does not matter if people are comfortable with it or not because God is holy and perfect.
Fourth, you said that you will not worship a God that does not support homosexuality. I think this is the mindset of a lot of people. They will only worship God if He becomes like them and believes what they believe and supports what they support and accepts what they accept. God gives you and others the free-will to deny Him but it is my prayer that you submit to Him and understand that He has your best interests at heart and those who are living in rebellion.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on April 17, 2026 at 12:42 am
Amor Dei,
By the name you have chosen, it’s obvious that you consider yourself morally superior to everyone else, especially those who dare have a different viewpoint than yours, so I’m sure you will snub you nose at my comments. But here goes anyway….
From your lofty position of moral superiority, you may not have noticed that many people have stood for peace over the years, sometimes at great risk to themselves, when the United States went on a bombing, slaughtering rampage, and they stood against it equally in the face of both conservative and liberal slaughtering rampages.
Yes, despite what Fox News and Newsmax tell you, there are still some Americans who stand on principle, instead of “standing” on the daily narrative of lies fed to the public by the government, press , and preachers.
Comment by Amor Dei on April 17, 2026 at 1:37 pm
@Glenn Wheeler, you are making boldfaced assumption with ad hominem attacks based on my name no less. It seems that you have conveniently convinced yourself that I am self-righteous to dismiss whatever I have to say. You have misjudged me and I would prefer that any conversation that we have be civil and on the issues instead of character attacks considering we know very little about one another.
I am having a hard time following you rebuttal because it does really address much of what I said before. I have no idea why you assume that I am ignorant to the efforts of others to usher in peace. While that is true I also see that is selective on both sides. As I mentioned elsewhere in these comments:
“Where was this outrage from the Left when Obama was killing children with drone strikes? Where was this outrage when Hamas attacked Israel and murdered 1,200 innocent men, women, and children (not to mention raping them)? All I heard was “Free Palestine!” Where was this outrage when Biden was sending Ukraine hundreds of billions of dollars that was in part spent on weapons, training, and other war-related endeavors? It seems that if Trump is not involved than it’s a righteous cause and morally permissible, but if Trump is involved it’s evil and reprehensible.”
I also take issue with your selective attack on Fox News and Newsmax. I myself do not respect any mainstream news outlet because they have an invested interests to cater to their audience instead of telling the unvarnished truth. It is also without question that the vast majority of news outlets are liberal Democrats and have a penchant for contriving narratives through manipulation and omitting important facts that go against their positions and policies e.g., Obama deported more immigrants than any other president and with the help of Joe Biden started the holding facilities that were called “prison camps” or “detention camps” under Trump.
The lion’s share of lies and deceit is coming from Leftwing news outlets that are further propitiated by progressive pundits and preachers.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on April 18, 2026 at 12:24 am
Amor Dei,
I feel sorry for you, even though you do hold yourself in an exalted position above others, for you can do nothing but parrot the lines you are fed by Fox News and Newsmax, while at the same time denying you’re doing that. Try coming up with a thought of your own which is not fed to you by the right-wing media.
Comment by Amor Dei on April 18, 2026 at 11:54 am
@Glenn Wheeler, I can see that this conversation is getting no where. You seem to have the tendency to vilify people who you disagree with because your positions are emotionally motivated instead of intellectually grounded. I do not know of this kind of debate rhetoric has worked for you in the past but I see right through it. You keep accusing me of exalting myself over others but on what evidence? You claim that I am parroting lines from Fox or Newsmax and I have not watched either of those in more years than I can remember. Do you have evidence? Can you back up your claims? Or is calling people names easier than substantiating your positions?
I have no ill-will towards you. I only wish that you would listen to reason and at least come to the table with something more than emotional arguments. May Jesus guide you into His holy truth.
Comment by Glenn Wheeler on April 18, 2026 at 11:58 pm
To Amor Dei, or better known as “you who (supposedly) loves the god of your own creation,”
Your comments provide all the evidence anyone needs. I repeat…you simply parrot the narrative you are fed. Your comments are merely a recitation of the talking points fed to you by the 24/7 right-wing media circus.
All your whining won’t change that.
So why don’t you come to the table with more than the parroted narrative that you were fed by right-wing media?
I’m waiting on your “jesus” to reveal to me how the slaughter of children and the elderly by psychopathic, satanic leaders in the United States and Israel exemplifies the teachings of the real Jesus.
Comment by Tim Mc on April 21, 2026 at 8:53 am
2 Timothy 2: 23-24 (The Message)
Run away from childish indulgence. Run after mature righteousness—faith, love, peace—joining those who are in honest and serious prayer before God. Refuse to get involved in inane discussions; they always end up in fights. God’s servant must not be argumentative, but a gentle listener and a teacher who keeps cool, working firmly but patiently with those who refuse to obey. You never know how or when God might sober them up with a change of heart and a turning to the truth, enabling them to escape the Devil’s trap, where they are caught and held captive, forced to run his errands.
Comment by Skipper on April 21, 2026 at 9:37 pm
Amor, good comments. Sometimes people have no interest in listening or improving and just want to express their opinion.
Comment by Skipper on April 22, 2026 at 9:36 am
Yep, it split the UMC! One side said it’s physically and spiritually destructive, so we’re out of here. We want to be faithful to God. The other side thought by tolerating evil they were increasing the fold. Too bad the split took so long to get here but thank goodness it finally did!