Nearly 7,300 congregations have left the United Methodist Church as the denomination continues to embrace homosexuality and transgenderism.

Methodist ministers previously enacted a disaffiliation process for more conservative churches four years ago, through which congregations can disaffiliate by the end of this year if they disagree with the denomination’s views on homosexual behavior, ordination of practicing homosexuals, and approval of purported homosexual marriage. Some 7,300 churches have since taken advantage of the process, according to data from United Methodist News.

Some 5,300 of the 7,300 departure approvals have occurred this year rather than the previous three years after the disaffiliation approval process was announced. The United Methodist Church has approximately 30,000 member churches.

The denomination had declined to 5.7 million members as of two years ago, roughly half the membership peak of 10.6 million members five decades ago. Many churches in the denomination have less than two dozen members.

Some conservative Methodists have launched an alternative Global Methodist Church as debates over homosexuality and transgenderism continue to rattle the United Methodist Church, which is the second-largest Protestant association of churches in the United States.

“Thousands of Methodist clergy and laity from around the world have worked together for over three years to lay the groundwork for a new, theologically conservative Methodist denomination steeped in the great ecumenical and evangelical confessions of the Christian faith,” the new association announced. “They envision a church fired by a warm hearted, Wesleyan expression of that faith that is dedicated to sharing the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed.”

Most prominent Protestant denominations in the Western world have been impacted in recent years by changing cultural winds with respect to sexuality and gender. Christians have historically affirmed that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that the only acceptable forms of sexual intimacy occur in the context of marriage.

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