Fifty-three congregations have left the North Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church amid a denomination-wide rift over LGBTQ policies, according to a recent report.
United Methodists have spent decades disagreeing about human sexuality. In 2019, the denomination gave him special permission to leave the church and keep his assets if he left the church by the end of 2023, citing “reasons of conscience” regarding human sexuality.
About a quarter of the nation's approximately 30,000 United Methodist churches have left in the past four years, including 53 congregations in the North Texas Conference, according to a recent report from the Lewis Center for Church Leadership. The research center is part of the United Methodist Theological Seminary in Washington, DC.
The recent disputes primarily revolve around the United Methodist Church's ban on same-sex marriage and same-sex relationships among clergy. The ban was strengthened in a plan passed by a slim majority of church representatives from around the world in 2019, but enforcement has been uneven in the United States. In North Texas, several unmarried homosexual ministers have been ordained.The denomination plans to vote on the ban again at a meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina, from April 23 to May 3.
The North Texas Conference lost 19% of its churches, less than any other conference in the state, according to the Lewis Center report. In contrast, the Northwest Texas Conference lost 162 churches (81%) and the Central Texas Conference, which includes Arlington and Fort Worth, lost 122 churches (44%).
Of more than 30 United Methodist congregations, only one was lost in Dallas. Most of the North Texas Conference departures were from outside the Dallas area.
This is a map of all 53 churches that left the North Texas Conference.
Joy Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for the Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.
