The church lost more than one million members in one day last week when its Ivory Coast branch voted to leave the church over its new liberal positions on sexual orientation and gender. The Ivory Coast decision came one month after church representatives at a general conference in the United States voted to lift the church’s ban on LGBT clergy and same-sex marriage.
The Ivory Coast chapter has 1.2 million members. translation A statement from the Ivory Coast chapter said the UMC denomination had “moved away from the Bible” and was “no longer suitable” for the Ivory Coast conference. Before the withdrawal, the United Methodist Church had about 10 million members in Africa, Asia, Europe and the United States.
UMC representatives voted 692-51 (93% in favor) to repeal bans on LGBT clergy and same-sex marriage, a historic shift from the church’s stance in the 1970s and 1980s that has slowly shifted since the 1990s as the denomination moved further to the left. Other African chapters may follow suit. In Zimbabwe, protesters gathered outside church headquarters last week to protest the denomination’s new stance.
“The Church’s affiliation with the Rainbow Movement is a threat to African traditions and the entire existence of humanity,” the protesters’ petition said, according to the Associated Press.
The UMC’s Council of Bishops issued a statement saying, “We are saddened by the Ivory Coast Conference’s decision to withdraw from the denomination, but we are committed to working with them through the process of becoming an autonomous Methodist church.”
“Although we do not all think alike on everything, the strength of our bond is love, respect, compassion and a shared commitment to faith in Jesus Christ,” the bishops’ conference statement said.
In recent years, roughly a quarter of United Methodists in the United States have left the denomination, many of them Global Methodist ChurchA new denomination launched by conservative Methodists last May, the Global Methodist Church’s Book of Doctrine and Discipline defines marriage as the union of one man and one woman.
“We believe that human sexuality is a gift from God that should be affirmed as being exercised within the legal and spiritual contract of a loving, monogamous marriage between one man and one woman,” the book states.
Regarding sex and gender, the book states, “While affirming the biblical perspective on sex and gender, we welcome all to experience the redemptive grace of Jesus and are committed to being a place of safe haven, hospitality and healing for all who may be experiencing brokenness in their sex lives.”Genesis 1:27, Genesis 2:24, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20)”
Photo credit: ©GettyImages/dlewis33.
Michael Faust He has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years, and his work has appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, Christian Post, Leaf Chronicle, Toronto Star and Knoxville News Sentinel.
