Change Comes Slow, and Ambivalence Persists. The United Methodist Church in NC as a Microcosm of Macrosomic Change

As The United Methodist Church prepares to meet for the 2020 worldwide Quadrennial/General Conference meeting (it is being held in 2024 because of COVID, etc.), there was this article in Religiousnews.com, by my friend Yonat Shimron about the disaffiliation going on in the UMC within The United Methodist Churches (UMC) of NC. Yes,  the great dissolution and schism (call it what it is) of the UMC is finally taking place. Phew! They kicked the can down the road as long as they could, hoping that they wouldn’t be like every Protestant denomination when it came to LGBTQIA2S+ people in terms of schism. But, in the end, reality set in, and the schism is happening.

The UMC in the state of NC is an interesting story unto itself. It is a microcosm of all that is happening throughout the country and world in the UMC. NC has two annual Conferences of the UMC: The North Carolina Conference, which is the eastern half of the state, and the Western NC Conference, which is the western half of the state. When I lived in NC and taught at Duke Divinity School, the “cool kids” of Duke Divinity School wanted to work in Western NC because it was seen as more liberal and progressive than the NC Conference, which was seen as less progressive.

Yonat reported that even with all the UMC churches that left for the Global Methodist Churches (GMC), there were still 24% of clergy who were doubtful about LGBTQIA2S+ ordination and same sex marriage: "A new report from the Religion and Social Change Lab at Duke University that looked at disaffiliating clergy from North Carolina’s two United Methodist conferences or regions found that even after the departures, 24% of North Carolina clergy remaining in the denomination disagree with allowing LGBTQ people to get married and ordained within the denomination.”

And it ended with this tag line, which about says it all: “…'at least some amount of ambivalence over LGBTQ+ issues among UMC clergy is likely to persist for years to come,' the report concluded.'”

And who exactly left the UMC? "Those leaving clergy members tended to be more homogeneous in their beliefs and to lead somewhat smaller and more rural churches. Nearly all (94%) of leaving clergy were white. More than a fourth of leaving clergy — 26% — were licensed local pastors, meaning they were not ordained and had less advanced ministerial training.” What is not reported is how many closeted queer clergy left with them, or stayed in the denomination but in the closet, too scared to come out and be LGBTQIA2S+.

Furthermore, and I found this statistic kind of incredible: "A total of 671 churches across North Carolina left the United Methodist Church (325 congregations in the North Carolina Conference, covering the eastern half of the state and 346 congregations in the Western North Carolina Conference, covering the western half). The report was based on the two conferences’ updated clergy records and compared with a 2021 longitudinal survey of clergy."

How many people? “139,361,” give or take a visitor or someone who was a member of a church but never joined. 

And don’t forget: The Southeast US has the most UMC churches in the country, and therefore the world.

"The study also showed that 59% of North Carolina pastors staying in the denomination said they are at least somewhat more liberal than most people within their congregation.” Lots of people who won’t reveal who they really are.

And the last line of Yonat’s report? Priceless: "The report also showed that compared with disaffiliating clergy, remaining clergy report more symptoms consistent with depression, anxiety, burnout and occupational stress.”

Here’s a link to the article: https://religionnews.com/2024/04/16/after-an-exodus-of-traditionalist-churches-umc-may-be-more-not-less-diverse/

Welcome, UMC, to the party, in which LGBTQIA2S+ people are welcomed and affirmed in the life of Protestant mainline churches. Southern Baptists have a ways to go. Dear UMC friends: Your tired and so far dishonest slogan, “Open Hearts, Open Minds, Open Doors,” has finally started to become your reality. Finally.

Celebrate the change! And don’t worry about the ambivalence.

May it be so.

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