Posted on 01/30/2024 11:27:58 AM PST by Recovering_Democrat
... Five years after allowing churches to leave with their properties if they disagreed with the direction the denomination was heading on issues of gender and sexuality, the results of the split are in, and they reflect larger political patterns to a substantial degree.
A new study by the Lewis Center for Church Leadership at Wesley Theological Seminary finds that the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination lost a quarter of its total churches between 2019 and 2023. Leading the way were churches in the South — the same area of the country that tends to be the most politically conservative and Republican-leaning.
A whopping 71% of all disaffiliating churches came from the Southeast and South-Central regions, called jurisdictions, the study found....
(Excerpt) Read more at ministrywatch.com ...
Therefore:
Lutheran (EL C S*A) Ping!
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Be rooted in Christ!
The August 19 date refers solely to the adoption of the gaysbian agenda, NOT to the “Full Communion” agreement.
Not enough they should have lost 90%
I never would have believed, that major denominations would face schisms over the subject of homosexuality.
But here we are. Certain denominations feel the need to bend over backwards, to prove that they are liberal on all this LGBT business.
And then they are shocked, just shocked, when they lose membership over their pushing those issues.
Maybe their revs are busy writing propaganda for Ukraine
Not enough, they should have lost 90%
I understand that many more petitioned to leave but were denied for one reason or another - property issues being one.
Classic Marxists on property.
What is yours is theirs.
What is theirs is theirs.
In all seriousness, I hope many of the churches that left did so out of spiritual conviction. It’d probably be exciting to be in one of them now if they use their recent separation from the hedonist UMC general conference as a defining moment — now and forevermore they’re believing the Bible, living it like they mean it, nobody can tell them otherwise, and that’s all there is to it.
We have one hold out in our county. Here’s a true story of several years ago. A country United Methodist Church celebrated its 100th anniversary. They had remodeled it. I attended the celebration. . .they were so proud. The church was on farmland. Well, they didn’t like what was going in the denomination and were told they had to buy it back (which all the money spent on it was from donations from the congregation). After remodeling they couldn’t afford it, so they had to close. The head of the Methodist Council or whatever they call them in the state said, “I would rather see this turn into a coon hunters’ barn instead of another church.” So sad. . . .such a wonderful congregation.
I bet the disaffiliating churches also had the most active congregations
Only a quarter of its churches? Not enough IMO.
Many of the congregations who couldn't leave was because the Conference was holding their property ransom—old-time churches with 50 members being assessed $80,000 to leave, and large churches in the seven and eight figures:
Mt. Bethel completes $13.1 million transaction to split from Methodist churchSome of the too-impoverished-to-leave churches are coasting along, thinking they will still be okay because their pastor is conservative. But the UMC's long-standing tradition is to move pastors frequently, rarely letting any stay more than seven to ten years; some even less. And their new tradition since the beginning of the schism is for the bishops to send apostate pastors to the conservative congregations, and Bible-preaching pastors to the left-wing congregations, in an attempt to keep everyone in the UMC. It must be a surprise to them how many have succeeded in disaffiliating.
As part of the settlement agreement, signed in early June, Mt. Bethel had 120 days to raise the money. The church embarked on a fundraising campaign, soliciting donations from members, which raised a little more than half of the money, Ingram said. The rest of the sum was loaned.
As for individuals leaving, it's easier for the young. I had an old woman tell me, "Well, I have to stay in this church because generations of my family and my husband are buried right out back here, and my plot is waiting for me."
It's a great cruelty to rip the rug out from under believers—the very basis on which these organizations call themselves a church.
A Bible-believing church nearby recently had a large influx—more than 20 new members—from the UMC up the road. One mom of young kids among those newcomers said that she searched online all the churches within a reasonable radius, and the one she chose was the only one that did not have the "Easter Bunny" on its web page for Resurrection Day.
Twenty five percent isn’t too bad, considering they’ve lost 75% of their attendees.
They lost me when they supported the Sandinistas in the last century.
My fellowship quit the United Church of Christ some years ago. When they started pushing their agenda on us our congregation voted to disaffiliate. The vote was unanimous.
It is between Sodomy and non-Sodomy.
There is an ongoing reorganization of denominations along those lines, Christians and Jews alike.
I use a capital 'S' for Sodomy, because it is the name of a religion.
If you don’t think the FBI is tracking the breakaway conservative churches - you haven’t been paying attention.
Yes, the same failed "cross fertilization" appointment scheme that was run in the early decades following the ME/EUB merger in an attempt to create homogenization--but which really resulted in friction, frustration, and dissatisfaction for congregations and clergy alike.
“I had an old woman tell me, “Well, I have to stay in this church because generations of my family and my husband are buried right out back here, and my plot is waiting for me.”
The wolves are feeding on the elderly sheep.
That is what raw evil looks like.
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