(The video in this story is from March, 2019, an international conference of the United Methodist Church held in Portland.)
The United Methodist Church has announced that it expects to split following an impasse over the debate on gay marriage and LGBTQ inclusion in the church.
The United Methodist Church Council of Bishops announced a separation agreement on Friday among the church’s diverse factions.
The schism divides the third-largest religious denomination in the U.S.
The result would be the formation of a new “traditionalist” denomination, which continues to forbid same-sex marriage and prevent LGBTQ people from becoming clergy.
What remains of the United Methodist Church would permit them, a first for the denomination.
LGBTQ issues have been at the heart of growing divisions within the church. They became the subject of contentious debate and a worldwide conference held last spring in Portland, Oregon at which church leaders rejected a plan to allow openly gay pastors and same-sex marriage.
"We are not going to change who we are — here in Portland, Oregon or across the west — and we're working to figure out what our next steps are," Pastor Donna Pritchard of the First United Methodist Church in Portland told KGW last spring.
Rev. Andy Oliver of Allendale UMC in St. Petersburg, Fla. rejected the decision and promised to continue promoting inclusion.
The delegates there saw the worst in a major part of the church, and many people who remained silent in the past have been moved to a place of advocacy and can clearly say this isn't right," said Oliver in February.
At the time, he used his church’s sign to apologize for what he views as “harm done by the church.”
The Council of Bishops said the proposed agreement to divide the church was signed on Dec. 17 by representatives from Europe, Africa, the Philippines, and the United States.
It still must be finalized.
It will be brought before the United Methodist General Conference in May 2020. Under the agreement, the new traditionalist Methodist denomination would receive $25 million from the United Methodist Church over the next four years.
Any other denominations formed as a result of the agreement would receive $2 million. There would also be $39 million provided “to ensure there is no disruption in supporting ministries for communities historically marginalized by racism.”
The plan’s writers called it “the best means to resolve our differences, allowing each part of the Church to remain true to its theological understanding while recognizing the dignity, equality, integrity, and respect of every person.”