Three United Methodists were killed Dec. 15 when a United Methodist Church in northeast Nigeria was attacked allegedly by supporters of the breakaway Global Methodist Church. A few days prior to the attack, a dissident organization that has promoted the…
UMC bishop back in Zimbabwe after visa detention in Nigeria
United Methodist Bishop Eben K. Nhiwatiwa was safely home in Zimbabwe Aug. 27 after being detained in Nigeria on a visa complaint while visiting to set up the election of a new bishop. The incident marks the latest encounter in…
What comes next for the United Methodist Church?
Not even the sainted hymnist of Methodism, Charles Wesley, could sing better of the United Methodist Church’s future than King George III in the musical Hamilton: What comes next? Regrouping after decades-long conflicts over human sexuality, declining membership, decreased revenues…
One quarter of U.S. United Methodist churches have disaffiliated
Final statistics for churches exiting The United Methodist Church show more similarities than differences between congregations that left the denomination and those that stayed, along with sustained identity trends among 7,600 departing churches — 25% of the UMC’s 30,000 churches…
Two Baptist seminaries among six ‘recommended’ by new Global Methodist Church
Two Baptist-affiliated schools are among six “recommended educational institutions” approved by the new Global Methodist Church. The GMC is a breakaway group from The United Methodist Church created largely over disagreements about LGBTQ inclusion and acceptance. The UMC is perceived as…
Truett Seminary names a controversial Methodist bishop to its faculty
Baylor University’s Truett Seminary has added a second faculty member aligned with the new Global Methodist Church, the conservative breakaway from the United Methodist Church. The appointment of Scott Jones as affiliate professor and pastor-theologian in residence at Truett’s Wesley…
Texas megachurch relents; follows United Methodist rules to exit denomination
One of the largest United Methodist congregations in Texas, which said it would circumvent the denomination’s process on leaving, has relented and allowed its members to vote on the exit. It also has agreed to pay the required departure fees…
Eight months later, there’s renewed interest in Adam Hamilton’s video on why he’ll remain a United Methodist
United Methodists do not face a “binary choice,” the pastor of the denomination’s largest church in America told his congregation last spring, foreshadowing the schism that has since become full-blown. A video of Adam Hamilton, pastor of Church of the…
‘Everybody’s doing it’: United Methodists ignoring their own rules as break-up continues
I am utterly spent and crushed; I groan because of the tumult of my heart. — Psalm 38:8 Church politics, like all politics, creates noble achievements and underhanded dealings. As the year draws to a close, United Methodists find themselves…