Global Methodist Church | |
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Abbreviation | GM Church |
Classification | Evangelical |
Orientation | Methodist |
Theology | Wesleyan |
Governance | Connectionalism[1] (modified episcopal polity) |
Origin | May 1, 2022[2] |
Separated from | United Methodist Church (2022) |
Congregations | 4,495[3][4] |
Ministers | 4,504[3] |
Official website | globalmethodist |
The Global Methodist Church (GM Church, or GMC) is a Methodist denomination within Protestant Christianity subscribing to views that were propounded by the conservative Confessing Movement.[5][6][7] The denomination is headquartered in the United States and has a presence internationally.[8][9] The Global Methodist Church was created as a result of a schism with the United Methodist Church, after members departed to create a denomination seeking to uphold "theological and ethical Christian orthodoxy."[5][10][11]
Congregations that left the UMC to form the Global Methodist Church opposed recognition of same-sex marriage and the ordination of non-celibate gay clergy.[11] Its doctrines, which are aligned with Wesleyan-Arminian theology, are contained in the Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline, its Book of Discipline, and in The Catechism of the Global Methodist Church.[12][13][14] The church allows both women and men to serve as clergy.[15] As of 2024[update], the church is composed of nearly 4,500 congregations and a similar number of pastors.[3][4]
Traditionalists committed to leaving the United Methodist Church have chosen "Global Methodist Church" as the name for the denomination they plan to launch. ... The name "Global Methodist Church" is in the spirit of Methodism founder John Wesley's statement, "The world is my parish," a press release said.
The WCA took the lead in the creation of a new traditionalist Methodist denomination, the Global Methodist Church, which formally began May 1.
The Bulgaria-Romania Provisional Conference voted to leave The United Methodist Church for the Global Methodist Church, a traditionalist denomination that begins operations May 1.
The 13-million-member United Methodist Church is shattering, and traditionalists are building a new Global Methodist Church committed to theological and ethical Christian orthodoxy.
Of course the headline issue is that of human sexuality: should the church maintain the classical understanding of Christianity (and before it, its Judaic mother) on same-gender sexual relationships, or is this traditional view now properly understood as retrograde, oppressive, and offensive? Meanwhile, many traditionalists insist that matters of human sexuality are not their primary concern. Instead, they often suggest that orthodox Christian doctrine is what is at stake. The post-separation UMC, some claim, will not only be progressive in its sexual ethic, it will quickly abandon classical Christian teachings like the virgin birth, the atoning death of Christ, the Trinity, or the bodily resurrection of Christ.
Similarly, White's Chapel in Southlake, which has over 6,000 weekly attendance, exited the denomination last month and stated it seeks to uphold "Wesleyan Theology" and "Methodist traditions, rites, and rituals" as it moves forward.