WASHINGTON LETTER
Even more than usual, rainbow flags, symbols of the struggle for the rights of LGBTQ people, have flourished in recent days on the forecourts and pediments of certain American churches. " Everyone is welcome ", proclaim the banners. This inclusive creed is at the heart of the quarrel between loyal Liberals of the United Methodist Church (UMC) and the conservative fringe of this branch of American Protestantism.
Putting forward theological reasons, the latter fiercely oppose the union of homosexual persons as much as the ordination of pastors claiming LGBTQ sexual orientation. For the time being, Church rules prohibit these practices, even if locally, at the risk of sanctions, pastors have entered into unions between people of the same sex. Camped on irreconcilable positions and undermined by deadly theological disputes, the two parties therefore announced their divorce on January 3. It is expected to be approved at the Church convention in May, and pave the way for the lifting of the bans.
Casus belli
The debates escalated a year ago when, pushed by religious leaders from Africa and Asia – where the Church has a third of its 12 million members -, the bodies of the UMC strengthened the rules recalling that "The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching". A casus belli for the American liberals.
The United Methodist Church is the second largest Protestant denomination in the United States, behind the conservative Southern Baptist Convention. In the United States, it welcomes personalities with convictions as varied as the democrat Hillary Clinton, the left candidate for the presidential election Elizabeth Warren, the former republican president "born again" George W. Bush or the ex-minister of the justice of Donald Trump, Jeff Sessions, known for his uncompromising opposition to abortion and same-sex marriage. Difficult to catalog, just over half of the faithful claim to be Republicans, while 35% claim to be Democrats. And contrary to the positions of other Protestants, Methodists defend the right to abortion.
The schism should allow the traditionalists to create their own current; to do this, a check for 25 million dollars (22.5 million euros) will be paid to them over the next four years. While 6 in 10 American Methodists believe that homosexuality should be accepted, the majority of them may remain in the mainstream. But the split risks weakening this Church a little more, losing momentum in recent years in the face of the push of the Evangelical Protestants. The UMC belongs to this “traditional” Protestantism (in opposition to the evangelical currents) which represents only 14% of the population and 32% of the Protestants, while the Evangelical Churches, globally more conservative on societal questions, now gather a quarter of Americans and 55% of Protestants.
