A few times I have written about the disaffiliation that has been taking place in the United Methodist Church. That’s a fancy word for a congregation that has decided to separate from the denomination according to a particular window that was available over the last 4 years. That window closed on December 31, and we can now begin to see the full extent of this process.
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership has prepared a report. You can read the report here Click Here.
Here are some of the highlights:
About 25% of churches and 24% of the membership in the United States have left the United Methodist denomination. This is a higher percentage than the division that other mainline churches experienced in recent years over the issue of homosexuality.
Those churches that chose to leave the UMC tended to be:
- A mixture of small, medium, and larger congregations
- from the Southeastern (50%) and South Central (21%) jurisdictions
- made up of a majority white membership.
- led by a pastor that was not an active, fully ordained elder (in other words, they were led by a retired, local pastor, lay supply pastor)
- led by a male pastor.
Many of the congregations that went through disaffiliation decided to join the new denomination called the Global Methodist Church. Still, other congregations chose to remain independent. Pastors serving congregations that disaffiliated could stay with the United Methodist Church and receive a new appointment to a different congregation. Some pastors chose to leave the UMC or retire. In our annual conference, 25 congregations left out of 642 United Methodist Churches that make up the Baltimore Washington Annual Conference.
When this provision leaves the denomination closed, it opens the possibility for a renewed focus on the future. Rather than continuing to debate and argue, the church can focus more clearly on its witness and vitality. The General Conference will meet in April of this year to discuss and decide church-wide matters for the first time since its last meeting in 2016. The fields are ripe for the harvest, and there is much good that can be done.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Steve