The Global Methodist Church (shortened to GM Church, or GMC) is a

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

denomination of

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

subscribing to views consistent with the conservative

Confessing Movement The Confessing Movement is a largely lay-led theologically conservative Christian movement that opposes the influence of theological liberalism and theological progressivism within several mainline Protestant denominations and seeks to ret ...

. The denomination is headquartered in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and has a presence internationally. The Global Methodist Church was created as a result of a schism with

The United Methodist Church The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelica ...

, after members departed to erect a denomination seeking to uphold historic Methodist praxis. Its doctrines, which are aligned with

Wesleyan-Arminian theology Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan–Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charles We ...

, are contained in its

Book of Discipline A Book of Discipline (or in its shortened form Discipline) is a book detailing the beliefs, standards, doctrines, canon law, and polity of a particular Christian denomination. They are often re-written by the governing body of the church concerned ...

and in ''The Catechism of the Global Methodist Church''.

History

In the United Methodist Church, polarization started to occur between traditionalist Methodist theologians and clerics and those with progressive tendencies. Traditionalist caucuses within the United Methodist Church, such as the Confessing Movement within The United Methodist Church, Good News, Concerned Methodists, Transforming Congregations, UM Action, Lifewatch, and the

Institute on Religion and Democracy The Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD) is an American Christian conservative think tank that promotes its views among mainline Protestant churches, as well as advocating for its values in the public square. Its critics claim that it has bee ...

for a number of years, promoted what they saw as historic Methodist positions in various General Conferences, Annual Conferences, districts, and local churches. The United Methodist Church, spurred by its global growth, was moving "in a more traditionalist and orthodox direction" as a whole. Every General Conference of the United Methodist Church since 1972 continued to uphold a traditionalist stance on human sexuality and in the United Methodist 2016 General Conference, the Church adopted more pro-life stances with respect to abortion. In 2016, at the United Methodist Church's General Conference in

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

, delegates voted 428 to 405 to delay conversation on

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

and proposed a review of ecclesiastical restrictions, with the Book of Discipline's injunctions remaining in effect, that "homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching" and that "marriage is only between a man and a woman." Despite the UMC prohibiting the

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

of self-avowed practicing' gay clergy" in its

, one Filipino and more than a hundred progressive American

clergy Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

in attendance at the General Conference

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as gay. Two major plans regarding the UMC's position on homosexuality were suggested at the 2019 General Conference in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

: the Traditional Plan, which supported the denomination's current stance against same-sex marriage, and the One Church Plan, which called for the loosening of restrictions. Supporters of the Traditional Plan (who were aligned with the traditionalist caucuses), citing the ''

'', succeeded in passing their proposal with a delegate vote of 438 to 384. Prior to the April vote, discussion of possible schisms over gay issues had grown following a February special session that recommended the Traditional Plan. In late 2020, two progressively-aligned UMC-originating groups announced their establishment:

Liberation Methodist Connexion The Liberation Methodist Connexion (shortened to LMX) is a Protestant denomination based in the United States drawing from Methodism and Liberation theology, liberation theology. Formed in 2020 as a Progressive Christianity, progressive offshoot o ...

and The Liberation Project. Despite the passing of the Traditional Plan in the 2019 General Conference of the United Methodist Church, several modernist United Methodist clergy announced a refusal to adhere to it and the United Methodist Book of Disciple. As a result, the traditionalist caucuses began to plan the formal erection of a new traditionalist Methodist denomination, the Global Methodist Church. The denomination's name was chosen in the spirit of a quote from the father of Methodism,

John Wesley John Wesley (; 2 March 1791) was an English people, English cleric, Christian theology, theologian, and Evangelism, evangelist who was a leader of a Christian revival, revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism. The soci ...

, who stated with regard to

evangelism In Christianity, evangelism (or witnessing) is the act of preaching the gospel with the intention of sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians who specialize in evangelism are often known as evangelists, whether they are i ...

, that "The world is my parish." Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, plans to discuss and formalize the Global Methodist schism, including that of the Global Methodist Church, were delayed until 2022. In August and September of that year, the UMC General Conference is expected to vote on the proposal referred to as the "Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation". However, Reverend Keith Boyette, chairman of the Transitional Leadership Council of the Global Methodist Church, published a letter in January 2022 that expressed concern this General Conference would also be delayed. In February 2022, the UMC announced that it was examining again postponing the General Conference. Not wanting to wait for the General Conference to occur, some conservative United Methodist congregations left the United Methodist Church to become a part of the

Free Methodist Church The Free Methodist Church (FMC) is a Methodist Christian denomination within the holiness movement, based in the United States. It is evangelical in nature and is Wesleyan–Arminian in theology. The Free Methodist Church has members in over 100 ...

, a traditionalist Methodist denomination. The denomination launched on May 1, 2022. On 6-7 May 2022, leaders and delegates of the Wesleyan Covenant Association met in

Avon, Indiana Avon is a town in Washington Township, Hendricks County, Indiana, United States. The population was 21,474 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Indianapolis metropolitan area. History The first settlement at Avon was made around 1830. The fi ...

. They selected Jay Therrell of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

as their leader, replacing Keith Boyette of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, who will remain in as a member of the GMC's leadership. Also, they approved core beliefs and policies for the denomination. In September, a group of UMC bishops in Africa suspended cooperation with the Africa Initiative and Wesleyan Covenant Association after accusing the groups of working "to destroy our United Methodist Church" and attempting to raise the Global Methodist Church's profile.

Beliefs

The doctrines of the Global Methodist Church, which are aligned with

, are contained in its

and in ''The Catechism of the Global Methodist Church''.

Organization

Much like both the UMC and FMC, the GMC will have an

episcopacy A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

that will oversee annual conferences. Unlike the UMC, bishops within the GMC will be consecrated to serve for a set term, as opposed to a lifetime role. The role within the UMC of district superintendent will be replaced with that of a presiding elder. In May 2022, the Judicial Council of the United Methodist Church ruled that none of the 51 annual conferences in the United States can leave the church for the GMC and that only individual churches can do so. However, the ruling does not apply to conferences outside the United States. The Romania-Bulgaria Conference had already voted to leave the UMC, and in June the Evangelical Methodist Church in Croatia joined as a member church of the GMC.

References

External links

Global Methodist Church
official website
Wesleyan Covenant Association
associated pre-foundation body {{Methodism footer Methodist denominations United Methodist Church Methodist denominations in North America Methodist denominations established in the 21st century

History

Beliefs

Organization

See also

References

External links