FRACTURE

United Methodist Church Agrees to Split Over Gay Marriage

A “traditionalist Methodist” denomination will continue to oppose gay marriage, while the other will embrace it.

Leaders of the United Methodist Church have reportedly agreed to split the Protestant denomination in two, with a more “traditionalist” branch that will oppose gay marriage and another that will embrace it. The traditionalist denomination will continue to refuse ordination to LGBTQ clergy, while the more progressive branch will permit same-sex marriage and LGBT clergy for the first time in the church’s history. Currently, the United Methodist Church—the third largest denomination in the U.S.—is the only nonevangelical Protestant church that still refuses to perform gay weddings. While church leaders say they’ve reached an agreement on the fracture, the plan still needs to be approved at a conference in May.