The United Methodist Church has been going down a slippery slope for decades.  This is not surprising, unfortunately. I grew up in the UMC, and my mother and her family were Methodists, as well.  It is definitely not the church I grew up in, and my family members would certainly not recognize it now.  I stopped going to UMC about 30 years ago, and when we moved and were looking for a new church, the only reason I considered a UMC was because they were disaffiliating!  Had they not been disaffiliating, we would not have gone there.

The worst part is that UMC congregations can no longer disaffiliate like they could by Dec. 31, 2023.  That "door" closed.  And, for churches that did disaffiliate, it cost a pretty penny.  It cost our church $3.2 million to disaffiliate, but I am so glad they did.

I fear we will see more denominations forgetting their first love and thinking that pleasing man is the way to go.  Sad, really, but, again, God did warn us this sort of thing would happen.

Nancy L.