Congregations Aren’t Waiting to Leave the Methodist Church

Caught in a decades-long battle over LGBT issues, with a proposed denominational split delayed again by the pandemic, dozens of conservative and progressive churches are leaving the United Methodist Church (UMC) without a tidy exit plan. Two years ago, factions in the United Methodist Church (UMC) agreed on a plan for splitting the denomination with conservative churches keeping their property as they leave. But the UMC has twice postponed its General Conference and won't meet until August 2022 to vote on the proposal, called the "Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation."