Two regional governing bodies of the United Methodist Church in Texas over the weekend finalized the split of 439 congregations from the denomination.
The Northwest Texas Conference in Lubbock, encompassing Lubbock to the panhandle, granted approval for 145 of its 200 churches to disaffiliate on Saturday. In Houston, during a separate session the same day, the Texas Annual Conference, which covers Houston and East Texas, approved the departure of 294 churches. There are four regional governing bodies of the UMC in the state of Texas.
The church departures come after decades of discord at the national level that came to a head in 2019 when the General Conference voted to uphold the denomination’s statements on homosexuality by narrowly passing the “Traditional Plan” in a vote of 438 to 384. The General Conference, made up of an equal number of clergy and laity, is the highest legislative body of the United Methodist Church….