43 Wisconsin congregations are set to leave United Methodist Church over LGBTQ issues

Sophie Carson, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Updated ·5 min read
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Delegates voted May 6, 2022 in Avon, Indiana on a series of resolutions to form the Global Methodist Church, a breakaway denomination from the United Methodist Church.
Delegates voted May 6, 2022 in Avon, Indiana on a series of resolutions to form the Global Methodist Church, a breakaway denomination from the United Methodist Church.

Forty-three Wisconsin churches could see their wishes come true Friday to leave the United Methodist Church, the latest local development in a denomination-wide schism.

More than 4,000 congregations have disaffiliated, or broken away, from the United Methodist Church since 2019 over disagreements on LGBTQ rights and other theological and church policy issues. Congregations are leaving for the more traditionalist, or conservative, new Global Methodist Church, arguing the United Methodist Church has become too progressive.

Around the country, regional governing bodies called annual conferences have voted to grant congregations who want to leave the permission to break away. As many as a few hundred in each region have departed. In Wisconsin, only one congregation disaffiliated so far, in 2021.

Last year the Wisconsin conference set a 17-step process for more congregations to disaffiliate, and 43 congregations voted among their own members to leave the United Methodist Church. It all comes to a head Friday when conference delegates meet in Green Bay to vote on approving those requests.

More: With a historic number of churches leaving, why 2022 was so dramatic for United Methodists

What is the United Methodist Church?

Often referred to as UMC, it is one of the country's largest mainline Protestant denominations, with about 5.7 million members and 30,000 churches in the U.S. It is splintering in part over disagreements on LGBTQ issues such as conducting same-sex marriages and ordaining gay clergy.

There were 445 United Methodist Church congregations in Wisconsin with about 50,000 members in 2021, according to church data.

Light shines from a stained glass window depicting Jesus and two children during a Palm Sunday service at First United Methodist Church in Parsons, Tenn., Sunday, April 10, 2022.
Light shines from a stained glass window depicting Jesus and two children during a Palm Sunday service at First United Methodist Church in Parsons, Tenn., Sunday, April 10, 2022.

Why are churches disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church?

LGBTQ rights are a key driving factor for congregations asking to leave the United Methodist Church, although both sides say the debate goes deeper, with disagreements on how the Bible and Methodist doctrine are interpreted at the heart of it.

Current UMC leaders aren't following church doctrine on gender and sexuality, said the Rev. Mao Her, the pastor of Christ United Methodist Church in Greenfield. She is also the president of the Wisconsin chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, the advocacy organization that helped launched the new traditionalist Global Methodist Church, which disaffiliated churches are joining.

"We still believe in traditional marriage. We still believe that the practice of homosexuality is a sin, according to the scripture, and that is stated in our book of doctrines," Her said, referring to the UMC's "Book of Discipline."

"If we can't trust our leaders, our bishop, to uphold the Book of Discipline, we believe that then, they can do whatever they want," Her said. "We want to have integrity in the scripture."

Her's Greenfield church is among the 43 in Wisconsin who voted to disaffiliate. Of the 25 members of the Greenfield church who voted, 20 cast a ballot in favor of leaving the denomination.

Debate over LGBTQ rights intensified in 2016 after some United Methodist clergy came out as LGBTQ and the first lesbian bishop, Karen Oliveto, was elected.

The church allowed congregations to break away starting in 2019, but each regional conference created its own process for leaving.

In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Ed Rowe, left, Rebecca Wilson, Robin Hager and Jill Zundel, react to the defeat of a proposal that would allow LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage within the United Methodist Church at the denomination’s 2019 Special Session of the General Conference in St. Louis.
In this Feb. 26, 2019, file photo, Ed Rowe, left, Rebecca Wilson, Robin Hager and Jill Zundel, react to the defeat of a proposal that would allow LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage within the United Methodist Church at the denomination’s 2019 Special Session of the General Conference in St. Louis.

How many churches in Wisconsin have voted to disaffiliate, or leave?

Forty-three congregations in Wisconsin voted to disaffiliate, including five in southeast Wisconsin. Delegates will meet Friday to vote on approving those requests to disaffiliate. The measures are expected to pass.

But, according to Her, more congregations could petition to leave before the end of 2023, the deadline the church has set for disaffiliating.

The Wisconsin conference could decide on allowing those additional requests at the weekend meeting.

More: Splinter explainer: Why church property plays major role in split of United Methodist Church

Where will disaffiliated congregations go?

If they are allowed to leave, most of the congregations quitting the United Methodist Church in Wisconsin will turn to its new, conservative alternative, the Global Methodist Church, Her said.

The Global Methodist Church's doctrine says that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

A handful of other Wisconsin churches may go the independent route, Her said.

How many churches have left the United Methodist Church around the U.S.?

More than 4,000 congregations have disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church since 2019. The greatest number of churches that have left are in southern states, according to data compiled by The Tennessean.

In Alabama, for example, over 500 congregations have left. In Texas, more than 600 have left.

In the Midwest, Iowa has seen 84 congregations disaffiliate. In Michigan, 68 have left.

Which Wisconsin churches have voted to disaffiliate?

Southeast district:

  • Cambridge: Willerup UMC in Cambridge

  • Greenfield: Christ UMC in Greenfield

  • Racine: Faithbridge UMC in Racine

  • Union Grove UMC in Union Grove

  • Waterford: Community UMC in Waterford

Southwest district:

  • Arthur UMC in Livingston

  • Baraboo: Emanuel UMC in Baraboo

  • Belmont UMC in Belmont

  • Benton UMC in Benton

  • Blackhawk: Bethlehem UMC in Sauk City

  • Bloomington UMC in Bloomington

  • Boscobel UMC in Boscobel

  • Gays Mills UMC in Gays Mills

  • Juda: Zion UMC in Juda

  • Liberty Pole UMC in Viroqua

  • Madison: Asbury UMC in Madison

  • Mount Hope UMC in Mount Hope

  • Mt. Zion UMC in Boscobel

  • New Hope UMC in DeSoto

  • North Clayton UMC in Soldiers Grove

  • Retreat UMC in DeSoto

  • Rewey UMC in Rewey

  • Soldiers Grove UMC in Soldiers Grove

  • Wauzeka: St. Paul’s UMC in Wauzeka

  • Whig UMC in Platteville

  • Wisconsin Dells-Delton UMC in Wisconsin Dells

North central district:

  • Borth UMC in Poy Sippi

  • Marshfield: Zion UMC in Marshfield

  • Mauston UMC in Mauston

  • Poy Sippi UMC in Poy Sippi

  • Spencer UMC in Spencer

  • Stoddard UMC in Stoddard

  • Wonewoc UMC in Wonewoc

Northeast district:

  • Argonne UMC in Crandon

  • Eden: Tabor UMC in Eden

  • Eldorado: Salem,

  • Forest Junction: Zion UMC in Forest Junction

  • Greenville: Faith UMC in Greenville

  • Lomira: Trinity UMC in Lomira

  • Neenah: Faith UMC in Neenah

  • Oakfield UMC in Oakfield

  • Sheboygan: Fountain Park in Sheboygan

  • Waukau/Eureka in Waukau

Liam Adams of the Tennessean contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 43 Wisconsin churches ask to disaffiliate from United Methodist Church