Rift over LGBTQ rights causes 83 Iowa churches to split from United Methodist Church

Differing beliefs over same-sex marriage and ordaining openly LGBTQ clergy have prompted 83 churches to leave the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.

Of the 750 conference churches in Iowa, that's about 11% that will join a new, more conservative denomination or become an independent entity.

Conference leaders, including Bishop Kennetha Bigham-Tsai, held a special session via Zoom on Tuesday night for more than 500 laypeople and clergy — a majority of whom voted electronically to approve some seven dozen churches' disaffiliation agreements.

The agreements, which outlined plans to pay for two years of apportionments and unfunded pension liabilities for retired clergy, are part of the United Methodist Church's disaffiliation plan, or exit plan, passed during the 2019 General Conference.

Since then, conservative congregations across the country have split from the United Methodist Church, citing disagreements on sexuality and religion. The denomination has upheld bans on same-sex marriages and gay clergy, but U.S. congregations have openly defied them. And the Iowa Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church approved a new vision last year that allows Methodist ministers to host same-sex weddings and makes way for gay clergy to serve without fear of church charges.

The new Global Methodist Church, a Methodist denomination that will uphold the LGBTQ-related bans, formed last year. Most of the 3,755 churches nationally that disaffiliated have joined it.

Bill Poland, interim assistant to Bigham-Tsai, emphasized that the disaffiliation plan centers on the debate on human sexuality, primarily the inclusion of the LGBTQ community.

"There are absolutely no efforts or intentions to change any of our theology or doctrine. While folks might lean that way, from our perspective, that's misinterpretation or misinformation," he said. "There are no efforts to change our doctrine, our doctrinal standards, our theological tasks, our articles or religion. All of those things define who we are."

But John Lomperis, a General Conference delegate from Indiana who has colleagues in Iowa, said broader issues beyond sexuality are involved.

"There's not agreement on just basic questions like who Jesus Christ is," he said.

He also said that churches are choosing to leave because they believe the conference isn't "holding true to its own beliefs."

Read the list: Here are the 83 Iowa churches leaving the United Methodist Church over LGBTQ disagreements

Bishop sees opportunity 'to grow,' after hurt, disappointment, divisions

Before the voting took place in Iowa on Tuesday, Bigham-Tsai addressed the hundreds that logged in online. She said the vote brought an opportunity "to grow from places of hurt and disappointment, from disagreements and divisions that have so marked our time."

"We have an opportunity," she continued, "to beat our swords into plowshares, our spears into pruning hooks — to lay down our rhetorical weapons and pick up the tools that we need to till a mission field."

Poland, who sat beside Bigham-Tsai and other church leaders, later told the Des Moines Register that seeing 83 churches leave felt like a "divorce," and he's now grieving the losses.

"There were clergy and congregations that we voted on last night to disaffiliate ... some of them I'd actually served as a pastor. The clergy are my friends and colleagues, and I love each and every one of them.

"Even though I intend to fully maintain our friendships and relationships, that's just one of those things. And I would imagine everyone was feeling that," he said.

Nate Nims, a pastor at Walnut Hills United Methodist Church in Urbandale, is among the hundreds of people who voted "yes" for the resolution and shared Poland's sentiments. His congregation is staying with the United Methodist Church.

Nims said he has "mixed feelings" and finds it difficult to "say goodbye" to his friends and mentors, but "it has been clear for a while that we can't find a way to stay together. It is probably unhealthy for us at this time to attempt to act otherwise."

The largest share of churches departing from the Iowa Conference — 28 — serves northeast Iowa, three of which are in Dubuque and two are in Marion, according to the resolution voted on Tuesday. Many are in small towns or rural areas, though churches in Sioux City, Davenport and Council Bluffs voted to split. Grimes United Methodist Church is the only one in the Des Moines metro to leave.

The churches listed also included links to the signed agreements, which Poland said were done in "good faith." Poland said the agreements were approved and recommended by the conference board of trustees.

"People of the Iowa Annual Conference have sought the spirits leading the process of disaffiliation. Though painful, it is our responsibility to honor those requests that are currently lawful in accord with our Book of Discipline," he said on the call.

Disaffiliation process required two-thirds vote by a church congregation

In order to leave the United Methodist Church, two-thirds of a church congregation must have voted to disaffiliate based on "reasons of conscience regarding a change in the requirements and provisions of the Book of Discipline related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of self-avowed practicing homosexuals," according to the agreement. An authorized document of the vote must be provided to the conference.

Churches are required to pay two years of apportionments depending on the size of their congregations, which for some could be well over $100,000. Apportionments — which help fund mission projects, education programs for seminary students or active clergy and building expenses — must be paid by June 30, the agreement says. That includes funding for this remaining year and the next fiscal cycle, Poland said.

Churches also are responsible for unfunded pension liabilities for retired clergy, also due by the end of June. Otherwise the disaffiliation agreement becomes "null and void," he added.

Poland said disaffiliation rules are expected to sunset Dec. 31, but the Iowa Annual Conference plans to host another special session in November and offer remaining churches another chance to depart from the denomination. Churches who intend to leave the United Methodist Church must notify the conference by June 30 to begin the disaffiliation process.

"We wanted to allow as much time and grace as possible for congregations to be able to prayerfully do that," he said.

The process to disaffiliate beyond the sunset date will be addressed at the next General Conference in 2024.

For now, Poland and Nims said they are holding on to hope as they anticipate another wave of churches that may leave the United Methodist Church. But with the split, Nims said he hopes the Iowa Annual Conference can finally live out its mission and start to allow "congregations to determine what level of welcome they are comfortable with at this time."

Before the conference leaders adjourned Tuesday, the Rev. James Parks of Christ Church in Davenport, whose church disaffiliated, left with a final remark.

"At this crossroads, we live out the Great Commission by traveling our separate paths, and yet we also recall that obeying what Christ has commanded includes the command to love one another," he said.

F. Amanda Tugade covers social justice issues for the Des Moines Register. Email her at ftugade@dmreg.com or follow her on Twitter @writefelissa.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: 83 Iowa churches split from United Methodist Church over LGBTQ rights