Leaders from the United Methodist Church reportedly announced a tentative plan Friday to split the church over differences on same-sex marriage and the inclusion of gay clergy.
The new conservative “Traditionalist Methodist” denomination wouldn’t allow gay marriage or gay clergy members, The New York Times reported.
The proposal was first signed in December after the “fundamental differences” within the church became irreconcilable.
“I’m actually really sad that we couldn’t build a bridge that could have provided a witness to the world of what unity amid diversity and disagreement could look like,” Methodist Bishop Karen Oliveto, the denomination’s first openly gay bishop, said.
In 2017, the Judicial Council, the church’s highest court, declared Oliveto’s consecration “was incompatible with church law.” She was, however, allowed to remain as the resident bishop of the Mountain Sky Conference, which covers churches in Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming and part of Idaho.
There are roughly 13 million church members around the world and about half of them are in the United States, according to The Times. – READ MORE