The United Methodist Church (UMC), the largest Methodist denomination in America, after delaying its General Conference Session three times so that many conservative Methodists left the denomination, and after managing the pre-session process so that most of the representatives from Africa were not included among delegates, has come under the control of overwhelmingly pro-LGBTQ leadership. Decisions made at the 2024 session reflect the new reality.

Because of repeated delays to the UMC General Conference Session, a new, separate denomination, the Global Methodist Church (GMC), was formed in 2022. Over 7,600 U.S. churches have already left the UMC, many of whom have affiliated with the GMC.

In a 2019 vote at the St. Louis UMC GC Session, the delegates had supported a biblical understanding of marriage and human sexuality, but by a narrow, 53 to 47 percent margin. But the 2024 Session adopted a new definition of marriage, which received 78 percent support. Marriage, can now be between a man and a woman, or two persons of any combination—a confusing and unbiblical definition. It seems inevitable that, in the end, this definition will be reduced simply to any "two persons." Sex-specific elements will disappear. The idea that humans are malleable and can be reshaped however they want to be reshaped has been embraced, and nothing will stand in the way of the new religion.

Language in the Book of Discipline (the agreed rulebook for how the denomination is run) was also changed. The single paragraph stating that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching was eliminated.

African, Filipino, and other overseas sections of the Church which remain are now attempting what has been called “regionalization.” If the Philippines portion of the Church wishes to continue to uphold marriage as being exclusively between a male and a female person, they must now develop their own new rules for that, while continuing as part of a hollowed-out, pro-gay denomination. Will Filipinos coming to new faith in Christ consider joining such a denomination?

The denomination also adopted a new version of its "Social Policy." The Church is now unambiguously on the climate change agenda train, attacking fossil fuels and calling for environmental justice and governmental intervention to enforce it.(1)

Also of interest is the language adopted concerning pandemics:

We affirm healthcare as a basic human, right…. We call on governments, businesses, churches, and civil Society institutions to work cooperatively to ensure that every human being has access to medical services and treatment. … We call on national governments and international health organizations and medical groups to work cooperatively and expeditiously to address global pandemics…

Thomas Lambrecht's summary:

There is no question that the United Methodist Church is a new and different denomination today than it was in 2019. The General Conference actions have formalized an evolving consensus among the progressive and centrist parts of the church, and reveal that [progressives] are completely in control of the denomination.(2)

Whole lifetimes of Christian service were given to build up this denomination. But the structure and its institutions proved no match for the incoming wave of cultural transformation. Its schools and universities, its clergy, seminaries, hospitals, and administration has been systematically infiltrated with changed values. It is difficult today to identify this religious body as existing in continuity with the originating movement centuries ago. We should ask ourselves, “Are we grounded in the Scriptures?” Are we ready, individually, to hold on to truth? Or, are we ourselves at risk to be swept away in the engulfing cultural tsunami?

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Notes:

1. All sections of the Revised Social Principles officially adopted, https://www.resourceumc.org/en/content/all-sections-of-the-revised-social-principles-officially-adopted.

2. Thomas Lambrecht, "A Tale of a New Church," GoodNewsMag.org https://goodnewsmag.org/249154-2/, May 3, 2024.