United Methodism’s removal of Asbury Theological Seminary, located outside Lexington, Kentucky, from its list of approved schools for persons seeking ordination was inevitable but arrived quicker than expected.
Asbury is America’s eighth-largest seminary, with nearly 900 full time students. (View data for America’s seminaries from the Association of Theological Schools here.) The top seven seminaries are Baptist. The top United Methodist Seminary is Duke Divinity School, with 592 full-time students, ranking 16th in size.
Nearly 8,000 conservative churches (or 25 percent of the U.S. church) quit United Methodism during the 2019-2023 schism. Across decades Asbury was the main engine for educating conservative/evangelical clergy. Nearly all of United Methodism’s official seminaries have long been theologically more progressive.
A more liberalized United Methodism perceives it does not need Asbury, especially since its 2024 decision to set aside traditional teachings on marriage. But also, institutionally, it cannot sustain the competition. The denomination has 13 official seminaries. Asbury was not official but had in recent years graduated more United Methodist ordinands than any other single school.
Today, just nine percent of Asbury’s students are United Methodist. The new denominational policy will allow them to finish their work at Asbury.
Even before the schism, sustaining 13 official seminaries was dubious. United Methodism was founded in 1968 with those 13 schools when the denomination had 11 million members. As of 2024 it had 3.9 million. New numbers for 2025 will likely take it down to 3.7 million or lower. Hundreds and ultimately thousands of its 20,000 congregations will be closed or merged in the coming years.
The denomination is contracting and consolidating, which inevitably will include closures or mergers for some of its 13 seminaries.
The denomination also recognizes about two dozen non-United Methodist schools, of which Asbury had been one. With Asbury now gone, there are now no other Wesleyan seminaries on the list except Seattle Pacific Seminary, which is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. Along with Asbury, the denomination also delisted Northeastern Seminary in Rochester, New York, another Free Methodist school. The only other remaining apparent evangelical seminary on the list is Fuller Seminary in California.
Two members of the United Methodist University Senate, which sets policies on seminaries, cited Asbury’s traditional teachings on marriage and sex, which United Methodism no longer upholds. But Fuller Seminary’s official policies are also traditional, as are those of Seattle Pacific.
Nearly all the other recognized seminaries are theologically progressive. They include Harvard Divinity School, Yale Divinity School, and Vanderbilt Divinity School, among others.
Some will think it odd that United Methodism affirms seminaries with no Methodist theological heritage while delisting the world’s largest theologically Wesleyan school. But this trend of deemphasizing Wesleyan distinctives dates back at least 100 years. Wesleyan distinctives within United Methodism enjoyed a revival over the last 50 years that maybe is now concluding.
Or maybe not. Every day United Methodism, like nearly all other denominations, is declining as an institution, not just numerically, but also as an influence among its own members. Today’s Christians are mostly not interested in denominations. They resource themselves online and through their local congregation. Whatever the official denominational policies, thousands of members and many clergy will still look to Wesleyan teaching.
Even as United Methodism fades, Asbury Theological Seminary will continue to thrive as an international school uniquely devoted to Wesleyan theology, serving scores of Wesleyan denominations and others not attached to denominations. It is arguably the most influential, specifically Wesleyan institution in the world.
The decline of denominations does not necessarily equal the decline of particular Protestant traditions. All Protestants and Evangelicals are part of a particular tradition whether they realize it or not, and most do not.
American Protestant Christianity has largely become Baptist, even as the Southern Baptist Convention declines in membership and influence. As noted, the top seven seminaries in America are Baptist, five of them Southern Baptist.
The second biggest Protestant tradition in America is Pentecostal/charismatic, many of whose pastors do not get formal seminary degrees but instead study through Bible colleges or other alternatives. The fastest growing Protestant tradition in the world is Pentecostal/charismatic.
Needless to say, Mainline Protestantism in America is fading fast. Sixty years ago, nine of the 10 largest American seminaries were Mainline, and one Southern Baptist. Mainline no longer appears in the top 10, while two United Methodist seminaries appear in the top 15.
Amid the surging growth of online Christianity, some of which is substantive and much of which is performative or superficial if not supercilious, seminaries could be deemed less important. But the serious meat of American theological education will continue to originate with seminaries.
Under current trends, United Methodism as a denomination likely will not long endure as a meaningful institution. But Asbury Seminary under current trends has a bright future and will almost certainly outlive the denomination whose approval it no longer needs.
More from IRD:
In Conversation with Dr. David Watson: New Leadership at Asbury Theological Seminary
America’s Largest Seminaries in 2023-24
Comment by Gary Bebop on June 25, 2026 at 7:02 pm
Thanks, Mark, for enlightening us on trending reality. Dropping Asbury from UMC approval was predictable. A lot of institutional envy involved. But also institutional frostiness to any Wesleyan-holiness resurgence. There’s sorrow in this repudiation of one’s own historical nature. Methodists were in the thick of the action during the Second Great Awakening. Now the legacy is scrubbed off with unholy delight.
Comment by Td on June 25, 2026 at 9:45 pm
Of course the UMC dropped Asbury. Asbury is Christian, and the UMC is no longer Christian.
Comment by Dan Paddack on June 26, 2026 at 5:25 am
A very helpful, well-informed and insightful article. Thank you! Blessings in your own work and ministry.
Comment by Wilson R. on June 26, 2026 at 11:26 am
I welcome your hate, TD. I’d prefer to have people show their true colors than hide behind some professed love for the gospel.
Comment by Skipper on June 26, 2026 at 11:30 am
I received a call today – have you heard the big news? The UMC no longer approves of Asbury. They never have approved of Wesly Biblical Seminary in Mississippi. I guess that is what happens when you worship Baal instead of God. They have some income from closed churches they sell, but those will run out. They won’t let you take your property and leave, since they want your building to sell.
I hear the GMC (Global Methodist Church) now has 7000 congregations and growing quickly. They have real accountability too. Lack of accountability brought the UMC down. Those who broke the rules were ignored.
Comment by Qohelet on June 26, 2026 at 4:08 pm
All of you from Tooley on down are like an abusive ex-husband who stormed out on their wife two years ago and can’t deal with the fact that she’s moved on.
You founded your own church (the GMC.) How come you never talk about that? You’re so obsessed with pointing out perceived failings on the UMC’s part you’ve failed to make any argument for why the GMC exists.
If I were Asbury I’d be less concerned about the UMC and more concerned about what jobs my graduates expect to get when they’re out. You don’t need a seminary trained pastor to preach about those other people that God hates that conveniently aren’t you. Asbury grads are going to need to justify their existence compared to Bible college grads and uneducated local pastors and they’ll have student loans to pay.
Comment by Skipper on June 26, 2026 at 5:26 pm
Oohelet,
Let me tell you some more about the GMC (Global Methodist Church). It has both sound doctrine and accountability, which were lacking in the UMC. The name Global comes from a worldwide approach. The UMC deprived Africans and SE Asians of the number of votes and bishops they were due to keep the liberal U.S. folks in power. Also, the African bishops made a fraction of the U.S. bishops. The GMC has far fewer bishops and they are elected to terms, not for life like the UMC. GMC bishops “Guard the Faith” and teach. They are not largely administrators. The Conference asking’s are much lower also. The very first General Conference of the GMC was in Central America, not the U.S. to reflect a worldwide denomination.
How can the UMC approve Same-sex marriage when the Bible is so clear that such relationships are very evil? See Romans 1 or Corinthians 5 and 6 for example. They make their own doctrine and ignore God. They have taken a dark road and continue to follow it. Why are you so down on Asbury when it was the UMC breaking with Asbury and not vice-versa? Sounds like Asbury won’t buy into the Un-Biblical relationships and the UMC wants to make them pay. I don’t think many Asbury grads will be going UMC anyway.
Comment by James Culberson on June 26, 2026 at 5:36 pm
Thank you for your very kind remarks, Oohelet!!