Maine congregations break away from United Methodist Church over LGBTQ policies
The United Methodist Church has become more conservative and, in 2019, affirmed policies that many have decried as discriminatory against LGBTQ church members and clergy. That was a breaking point for ‘HopeGateWay’ church and other local churches focused on being affirming and inclusive in worship.
Members of HopeGateWay voted overwhelmingly to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church ... They are among the first half-dozen or so congregations in the country to denounce policies that had grown more conservative in recent years.
“Since the early 1970s, the United Methodist Church has been on a trajectory to being more conservative. One of the most significant ways that is expressed is in anti-gay policies. The policies got worse and worse each year,” said Rev. Will Green, pastor of the New Brackett Church. “We find it’s an offense to what we believe about God, about the community and about the world. The world is noticing the United Methodist Church is so anti-gay. We can put out our pride flags and try to create change, but at the end of the day we didn’t belong in the United Methodist Church.”
Ordained pastors in the United Methodist Church are not allowed to perform same-sex marriages, risking disciplinary action if they do, and “practicing” LGBTQ people cannot become ordained pastors, according to the church’s book of discipline. The church does not recognize or celebrate same-sex marriages, a ban that was reaffirmed in 2019.
https://www.sunjournal.com/2021/04/12/maine-congregations-break-away-from-united-methodist-church-over-lgbtq-policies/