NC United Methodists let churches leave the fold over shifts in LGBTQ policies

The North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church approved a split on Saturday that clears the way for nearly a third of its churches to separate from the denomination over its more inclusive LGBTQ policies.

The move, decades in the making, allows congregations that voted earlier this year to leave the United Methodist fold to join the new Global Methodist Church or some other denomination, or become non-denominational.

Three churches in Raleigh asked to leave the denomination: Asbury, Hollands and Layden Memorial. Of those, Asbury is the largest. In Orange County, Orange Chapel asked to leave.

The vote came at a special meeting of the North Carolina Annual Conference held in two rooms at Methodist University in Fayetteville, and brought a bruising process nearly to an end. Delegates voted by anonymous paper ballots, with “yes” meaning they voted to ratify the Conference Board of Trustees’ motion to ratify the churches’ request to disaffiliate. A “no” vote was against allowing disaffiliation.

Bishop Leonard Fairley presided over the live-streamed meeting and reminded those gathered that the event was not an occasion for either side in the debate to rejoice or celebrate.

Before announcing the vote, Fairley admonished the group not to applaud, saying, “This is not about winners or losers.” He led the group in prayer, saying, “Jesus Christ has the ability to bind up the brokenhearted, to heal all wounds. And in this place today there are many. But all you need do, Lord, is speak the word over us. All you need do is enter our hearts and our spirits.”

The tally was 957 to 165 in favor of allowing disaffiliation.

“We mourn that there are those compelled to leave the United Methodist Church,” the Conference said in a press release ahead of the vote. “These are people we have studied with, worshiped with, communed with, and shared in ministry. We have laughed together and cried together. We love our brothers and sisters. We pray they find a home where they can be in fruitful ministry and mission.”.

As they had done all along, some involved doubted the legality of the process within United Methodist Church rules and therefore the finality of the vote. In some churches that voted to disaffiliate, pastors in recent months had preached on talking points from advocates for the Global Methodist Church, saying that the vote was not about homosexuality but on the right to interpret the Bible as the literal word of God.

Under the rules written for disaffiliation, churches could only leave the denomination over matters of conscience related to homosexuality.

At the heart of the schism is a decision by the United Methodist Church to allow for the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy and for churches to host weddings and other celebrations of same-sex unions. It’s often described as a liberal-versus-conservative debate, but those within the UMC say the denomination’s official position on how to treat its LGBTQ brothers and sisters is a deeply spiritual matter that reflects the church’s interpretations of the Bible and of the teachings of Christ.

In the 1970s, the governing body of the United Methodist Church inserted language into the denomination’s Book of Discipline prohibiting gay and lesbian clergy and the celebration of same-sex unions. While saying that “all persons are of sacred worth” and welcome to participate in all programs of the church, it also said that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.”

Other denominations fought over the same issues and some of them also fractured over it, while the United Methodist Church continued to debate. In 2019, the church’s top governing body, with delegates from around the world, held a special session to try to settle the issue, but the decision at that meeting to uphold and strengthen the ban on gay clergy and same-sex weddings only led to more frustration.

Many of the 6.4 million members of United Methodist churches in America wanted the denomination to be more inclusive, while many in churches around the globe, including in conservative-leaning Africa, felt the ban was necessary. Those who favored full inclusion of gay and lesbian members vowed to disregard the denomination’s 2019 decision, and those who supported it said the denomination needed to take harsh action against anyone who went against the Book of Discipline.

Meetings planned to discuss the differences further were delayed until 2024 by the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Conservatives grew impatient with the lack of clarity over the issue and in May launched a splinter denomination, the Global Methodist Church, for congregations that wanted to stick with the Book of Discipline’s language on homosexuality. At churches where disaffiliation was brought to a vote, the question was decided by at least two-thirds of members in attendance when the vote was taken.

North Carolina has two conferences of United Methodists, dividing near the middle of the state. The N.C. Conference, based in Garner, had about 779 churches with about 214,000 members before Saturday’s vote. With the vote, 249 churches, or 32%, will disaffiliate. The Conference said the membership of those churches represents about 22% of the members of the Conference, and some members of those churches who disagreed with the vote to disaffiliate may find another congregation within the United Methodist Church.

The churches have until Dec. 31 to complete the disaffiliation process, which includes payments to ensure the sustainability of pastors’ retirement benefits.

The Western North Carolina Conference, with about 1,000 churches and some 300,000 members, has not yet voted on churches’ requests to disaffiliate.