Methodist Church To Split In Two Over Gay Rights
Leaders have already agreed in principle.
In what essentially boiled down to a fight between progressives and conservatives; leaders of the United Methodist Church have agreed to split into two independent denominations.
It's unclear what the new denomination will be named or exactly who will go where. According to some reports, the new plan, announced Friday through the church’s news service, would allow congregations that lean toward the church’s “traditionalist” stance to spin off into a new denomination, taking $25 million from the denomination and keeping their local church properties.
Specifically at the heart of the debate was whether or not member of the LGBT community should be allowed to get married or serve in clerical positions.
The proposal would have to be approved at the meeting of the church’s governing body, called the General Conference, scheduled for May in Minneapolis.
