Chateau Lloyd

The United Methodist Church has been torn by internal strife for the last 20 years, but the end may at least be in sight.  Since 2019, 2o percent of  American parishes have formally broken with the organization, many choosing to affiliate with the Global Methodist Church, was was founded last year.

In a sense, this is a triumph for the sexually libertine heretics who have openly defied Methodist teachings for years with impunity.  Unable to enforce discipline, the UMC's leadership tried the same approach as the Anglican Communion and has now experienced a similar failure.

As with the Anglicans, the Methodists have finally accepted that there are points of theological disagreement that simply can't be glossed over, not matter how hard people try.

In a sense, this is also a top-down schism as the name and property are firmly in possession of the heretics, and orthodox Methodists are effectively having to buy their way out of the denomination.  It is in many respects the triumph of heresy.

Indeed, I have seen progressives describe this as a victory, since an 80/20 split is quite lop-sided.  Many feared far worse.

However, that assumes the schism has run it course, which is unlikely.  Many parishes delayed a decision until a viable Methodist alternative was available, so additional disaffiliations are still in progress.

There is also the fact that parishes does not tell the full story.  Over the last two decades, millions of Methodists quit on an individual basis and I have seen several UMC churches in my area close in the last few years.   Many of the remaining parishes will not be viable, and will also be forced to shut down.

A key factor going forward will be the formalization of the new theology.  Up till now, this has been vague, with the progressive wing using the language of "tolerance" and "inclusion" to justify their sexual immorality.  The old rules were still on the books, but not enforced out of "compassion."

Now the progressives have the opportunity to set out their full vision of sexual freedom without any restraints.  I imagine there will be "LGBTQ+ friendly vacation bible camps" and other attempts at grooming because this is the demonic Spirit of the Age.

These will likely alienate even sympathetic believers who were willing to tolerate perversion, but will not advocate it.   That won't stop the leadership, however, because having seized the pulpit, they will use it for every progressive cause, not matter how extreme.

There is a certain symmetry in the almost simultaneous collapse of the Anglican Communion and the United Methodist Church.  Methodism itself was born of a schism within the Anglican tradition, and it originated as a movement to restore a more pure form of faith built on personal holiness.

Now both organizations have succumbed to the seduction of sodomy and sexual license, which their leaders have elevated to the highest good.  Unwittingly, both are now moving to a different branch of Protestantism, one their founders abhorred:  Calvinism.

Specifically, Yard Sign Calvinism.

Both the Anglicans and their offshoots have rejected any real requirement for personal change or external action to achieve salvation.  The believe that their inherent goodness and pureness of intention supersede sacraments or sacred scripture.  Indeed, both sacraments and scripture must yield or be discarded.

Yet in the end, both organizations will likely die out, becoming little more than a fringe activist group living off of the endowments provided by people whose beliefs they now abhor.