261 Georgia Congregations Depart United Methodist Church Over LGBTQ+ Disagreements

The move follows a 2019 decision allowing disaffiliation over LGBTQ+ issues, marking a significant fracture in the second-largest Protestant denomination in the US.

The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church has approved the departure of 261 congregations due to ongoing disagreements over LGBTQ+ rights.
The decision follows a 2019 resolution by the national United Methodist Church allowing congregations to disaffiliate by the end of 2023 over issues related to LGBTQ+ rights.
The departing congregations, which make up more than a third of the total in the North Georgia Conference, will no longer be allowed to use the 'United Methodist' name or logo.
Since 2019, over 6,000 congregations out of nearly 30,000 nationwide have been approved for disaffiliation.
The church has long been divided over its bans on same-sex marriages and the ordination of openly LGBTQ+ clergy, with many conservatives choosing to leave amid growing defiance of these bans.