107 Florida congregations leaving UMC to join new conservative church network amid LGBT debate

May 8, 2022 by Jill

by Michael Gryboski, Christian Post:

A staggering 107 United Methodist congregations based in Florida plan to leave the mainline denomination for the newly launched conservative Global Methodist Church.

The Florida chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a theologically conservative Methodist group, announced Tuesday that 107 churches in the state had “chosen to initiate the process to depart the Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church.”

The number of congregations planning to leave represents nearly 20% of the total number of churches belonging to the UMC Florida Conference, according to WCA.

“This broad group of churches include both large and small congregations along with Anglo, African American, Latino, Korean, and other ethnic communities of faith. These churches will align with the new Global Methodist Church,” stated the WCA chapter.

Keith Boyette, a leader in the WCA who served as a Transitional Connectional Coordinating Officer for the Global Methodist Church, told The Christian Post that he believes “there will be additional churches that will emerge as we move forward.”

“It is my understanding that all of these churches have taken votes to leave,” Boyette said when asked how firm the congregations were in leaving the UMC.

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