Methodist Split----By Race, and Now by Gay Acceptance

     There are a half dozen Methodist church congregations in Montgomery, with Frazier United Methodist the apparent largest.

     Pew Research shows Methodists are among the least racially diverse groups (94% white). The African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) is 94% black.

Now the church is splitting over the question of gay clergy and marriage:

"A group of leaders of the United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States, announced on Friday a plan that would formally split the church, citing “fundamental differences” over same-sex marriage after years of division.

The plan would sunder a denomination with 13 million members globally — roughly half of them in the United States — and create at least one new “traditionalist Methodist” denomination that would continue to ban same-sex marriage as well as the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy."   N.Y. Times story.

     

    





     




     Today will be the first Sunday since the decision was announced. And the split is certain to be the topic of conversation in all of the Montgomery congregations. Which position will the Montgomery congregations side with? 

UPDATE: Some very interesting observations from timlenox.com North-East Religion Reporter Jay Croft:

Jay Croft

This is going to be interesting. First, there will be, apparently, a LOT of money tossed around. Can their national church structure afford this?

Second, in cities or areas with more than one Methodist church, there will be large shifts of membership, both ways. In rural areas some difficult choices will have to be made, resulting in loss of members.

Third, what happens to endowments for one congregation when the family decides to move to another church? What about family burial plots?

And then, of course, there's the status of present and future Methodist clergy. Can clergy shift between one denomination and another? What about their pensions? Will the two denominations recognize each other?