The United Methodist Church is expected to split into more than one denomination in an attempt to bring to a close a years-long and contentious fight over same-sex marriage.
Conservatives applauded back in February when the United Methodist Church body
narrowly voted down the LGBTQ+P for Pedophile "One Church Plan', but alas, the
short-lived victory is coming to an end. Jesus tells us in Revelation 3 that the
Laodicean Church Age, the last days of the professing church on earth before the Rapture, would look like this:
"I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent." Revelation 3:15,16,19 (KJV)
You wouldn't know it to look at them now in their current sorry, apostate condition, but there was a day when the Methodist Church in America was an on-fire, bible believing church that for a time was the largest denomination in the US. But then they gave up their King James Bible in the early part of the 20th century, and it was all downhill from there. John Wesley
would be weeping if he could see what the Methodists have devolved in to.
Funny thing. As more and more Christian churches give in to the LGBTQ+P for Pedophile mafia, as you will see in the video below, the homosexuals in the clergy are saying that now "true healing can come" to the Church as it "embraces same-sex union". We live in such a distorted age when Christians have little to no idea what the Bible teaches so this type of thinking is being enthusiastically adopted as "progress". It is an awesome and terrible thing to watch Bible prophecy unfolding and coming true, and if it doesn't send a chill down you're spine you might want to check up on your own salvation.
United Methodist Church is expected to split over gay marriage, fracturing the nation’s third-largest denomination
FROM MSN NEWS: The historic schism would divide the third-largest religious denomination in the United States. Leaders of the church announced Friday they had agreed to spin off a “traditionalist Methodist” denomination, which would continue to oppose same-sex marriage and to refuse ordination to LGBT clergy, while allowing the remaining portion of the United Methodist Church to permit same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy for the first time in its history.
The plan would need to be approved in May at the denomination’s worldwide conference. The writers of the plan called the division “the best means to resolve our differences, allowing each part of the Church to remain true to its theological understanding, while recognizing the dignity, equality, integrity, and respect of every person.”
The United Methodist Church is the United States’ largest mainline Protestant denomination and among the only remaining such churches that still does not perform same-sex marriages. The church has fought bitterly about LGBT inclusion for years, and leaders often feared the fight would lead to a schism.
Friday’s announcement came as new sanctions were set to go into effect in the church, which would have made punishments for United Methodist Church pastors who perform same-sex weddings much more severe: one year’s suspension without pay for the first wedding and removal from the clergy for any wedding after that.
Instead, leaders from liberal and conservative wings signed an agreement saying they will postpone those sanctions and instead vote to split at the worldwide church’s May general conference. They said the agreement was brokered by Kenneth Feinberg, the mediation expert who handled the compensation fund for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, among other major negotiations.
The agreement pledges $25 million to the new “traditionalist” denomination, which will break away from the United Methodist Church, a group that is likely to include most of the church’s congregations in Africa, as well as some in the United States. In exchange, Friday’s announcement said, the new denomination would drop any claim to United Methodist assets, such as church buildings.
Any local church that wants to join the new conservative denomination would have to conduct a vote within a specified time frame, the announcement said. A church would not need to vote to remain United Methodist.
Churches that vote to leave could take certain assets with them. An additional $2 million would go to any other new denomination that wishes to split from the church. The plan also calls for $39 million “to ensure there is no disruption in supporting ministries for communities historically marginalized by racism.”
After the separation, the agreement said, the remaining United Methodist Church would hold another conference with the purpose of removing the church’s bans on same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy.
The 16 members of the negotiating team that reached the plan included bishops from New York, Florida, Louisiana, Ohio, the Philippines and Sierra Leone. The team also included leaders from the most pro-LGBT Methodist factions, including the Reconciling Ministries Network, and the most conservative, including the Wesleyan Covenant Association and the Good News movement.
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