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The new, more conservative Global Methodist Church just launched: Key takeaways from its start

Liam Adams, Nashville Tennessean
Fri, May 6, 2022, 

AVON, Indiana — A new Methodist denomination officially launched this month and many of its leaders met Friday to make key decisions for the denomination’s formation.

The new denomination, the Global Methodist Church, splintered from the United Methodist Church as part of a schism primarily over LGBTQ rights. The Global Methodist Church will be a home for Methodist churches that hold more “traditionalist” stances on sexuality and gender.

The Wesleyan Covenant Association — the main organization behind the formation of the Global Methodist Church — gathered its supporters and voting delegates here in the Indianapolis suburbs on Friday and Saturday to help the new denomination get off the ground.

Before the split, the UMC, with more than 6.2 million members in the U.S., according to 2020 data, was the largest mainline Protestant denomination in the nation. As of 2018, the denomination had more than 12 million members worldwide.

Here are key takeaways.

Related: Methodists focus on Easter amid denominational schism and the tough decisions ahead

Previously: A new Methodist denomination announced its official launch. How did we get here?
What is the significance of the event?

The Global Methodist Church launched earlier than originally expected, casting it in a state of flux right as churches are already joining. The churches joining are those that have left the UMC.

The Wesleyan Covenant Association, an advocacy group, is meeting partly to recommend policies the Global Methodist Church’s leadership can adopt to establish a doctrinal foundation.

The Wesleyan Covenant Association issued its recommendations through a series of votes cast by the group’s legislative assembly.

Delegates put their hands in the sky as to reach out as Rev. Dr. Carolyn Moore announces Friday, May 6, 2022, Jay Therrell, president of the WCA-Florida, as the new president of Wesleyan Covenant Association.

What did they decide on?

The Wesleyan Covenant Association legislative assembly voted for a new president and on four non-binding resolutions Friday.

The Rev. Jay Therrell, a Florida pastor, will lead the Wesleyan Covenant Association, replacing the Rev. Keith Boyette from Virginia. Boyette will take on a key leadership position in the Global Methodist Church.

"I am trusting in the amazing group...to get us across the Jordan and into where we need to be," Therrell told the audience Friday upon his election. "I’m really sure God is for us. We are going to get there. It will be soon."

Two of the four resolutions contained recommendations for the Global Methodist Church. One resolution forwarded along a catechism, or core denomination beliefs, and the other includes policies embodying traditionalist beliefs on sexuality and gender.

How did deliberations play out?

Each of the measures on Friday passed with more than 95% approval from the 235 delegates that comprise the Wesleyan Covenant Association's legislative assembly. The consensus contrasts with the division between this group and others within the UMC in years prior over topics like sexuality and gender identity.

The vote on the “sexual holiness” resolution followed a presentation by a task force that studied the topic and developed the recommendations included in the approved resolution. The delegates approved an amendment adding a recommendations for the development of resources for church leadership and laity promoting the idea that "a committed marriage between one man and one woman as the optimal environment for nurturing and raising children."

A man holds a book Friday, May 6, 2022, as delegates and others visit inside Kingsway Christian Church on Friday, May 6, 2022, to attend the Global Legislative Assembly of the Wesleyan Covenant Association being held in Avon, Ind.

What are the wider implications?

The Global Methodist Church’s temporary leadership body will now have to decide on whether to adopt the recommendations it received from the Wesleyan Covenant Association. If it does, it will be a significant development for the denomination.

But much else remains undetermined. Regional UMC conferences will determine this summer whether to approve requests by individual churches wanting to disaffiliate. Other major decisions await the approval of delegates at the UMC General Conference in 2024.

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on Twitter @liamsadams.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Global Methodist Church launches, Wesleyan Covenant Association meets