Disaffiliation in the UMC<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nThe United Methodist Church is the America\u2019s second-largest Protestant denomination. It is in the final stages of a slow-motion rupture over L.G.B.T.Q. policies that has so far seen the departure of a quarter of the nation\u2019s roughly 30,000 United Methodist churches in the U.S. \u201cIt\u2019s the biggest denominational schism ever,\u201d said Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University. There were eight million Methodists in the United States in 2020, according to the U.S. Religion Census.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The General Conference that meets every four years was initially planned for 2020 to tackle this issue but was delayed multiple times in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In the meantime, conservatives launched a rival denomination, the Global Methodist Church, which says it will not ordain or marry gay people. As of this fall, the new denomination said that more than 3,000 congregations had joined it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In this sermon series on \u201cHoly Disunity<\/em><\/strong>\u201d, we are going to roll up our sleeves to wrestle with the \u201cDisaffiliation in the UMC<\/strong>\u201d and shed light on what might be God\u2019s vision for the church and its mission going forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\nHave you heard about the \u201cWord of the Year<\/strong>\u201d? It\u2019s what algorithms determine as the most important word amongst humankind over the last 12 months. Guess what it was for 2023? \u201cAUTHENTIC.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cOnly way to be in a world is be free<\/strong> and authentic<\/strong>. Only way to be in a relationship is be free<\/strong> and authentic<\/strong>. Only way to be in a community that is worth belonging to is be free<\/strong> and authentic<\/strong>.\u201d ~ John Song<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cGod loves you. No exceptions.<\/em><\/strong>\u201d<\/em> ~ a registered trademark tagline of the Episcopal Diocese of Ohio<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n
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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You are invited to the in-person Human Relations Sunday Service on Jan. 14 at 10 am. The bulletin for this Sunday is available for viewing HERE. You can worship live on ZOOM by clicking the link below:https:\/\/us02web.zoom.us\/j\/9658816441 or Meeting ID: 965 881 6441 You can also watch Sunday services at your convenience by going to our website \u201cwatsonville1stumc.org\u201d and click YouTube or Facebook. Each Sunday worship will be uploaded […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":105,"featured_media":8828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Join us for in-person worship this Sunday, January 14, 2024 at 10:00 am - Watsonville First United Methodist Church | Primera Iglesia Metodista Unida de Watsonville<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n