Conservative Methodists Launch Global Methodist Church Denomination
Conservative Methodists have launched a new denomination called the Global Methodist Church.
The denomination launched on May 1 and will be a traditional, conservative subset of Methodists.
The official time to vote on a proposal to split the UMC isn’t scheduled until 2024, but many UMC congregations have started the process of breaking from the official church. Many of those churches are planning to join the GMC.
U.S. churches can join the GMC one by one until the UMC votes on whether regional bodies can disaffiliate together.
According to Christianity Today, the process of disaffiliating and joining the new Global Methodist Church could be long.
Mosaic Church in Evans, Georgia, has announced it will join the GMC. As part of that decision, the church’s name, logo and Sunday morning worship schedule will stay the same.
Lead pastor Carolyn Moore will continue sermons that align closely with Wesleyan theology and will still partner with other ministries to help those in need, but the property will no longer be held in trust by the United Methodist Church. Instead, Mosaic will own it.
The church will also have a new book of discipline, which details term limits for bishops, financial contributions and creates an accountability system for bishops, clergy and laypeople.
“Our goal is to reduce the amount of money leaving the local church for denominational expenses by at least 50 percent,” said Keith Boyette, the chairman of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and the chairman of GMC’s transitional leadership council.
“Many United Methodists have grown impatient with a denomination clearly struggling to function effectively at the general church level,” he added. “Theologically conservative local churches and annual conferences want to be free of divisive and destructive debates, and to have the freedom to move forward together.”
Mosaic pastor Moore said she is hoping churches will prayerfully consider joining the GMC.
“We would love to gather in people from the Methodist tradition around the world who are ready to be part of something bigger than themselves,” she said.
Related:
Alabama Megachurch Votes to Leave the United Methodist Church Denomination
Photo courtesy: AEJ Images/Sparrow Stock
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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