He urged the UMC, even as it suffers defections, to think of May 1 as its launch day as well. He said he prays the infighting will stop and the UMC will rediscover its mission to make disciples for Christ. “The constant fighting, the vitriolic rhetoric, the punitive behaviors have no place in how we preserve and promote our witness as Christian believers.” Its leaders have been exasperated by liberal churches’ continued defiance of UMC bans on same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy.īishop Thomas Bickerton, who became the Council of Bishops’ new president Friday, described the launch of the new movement as a “sad and sobering reality.” Bickerton said he regrets any departure from the UMC and values the denomination’s diversity of thought. The breakaway denomination, called the Global Methodist Church, will officially exist as of Sunday. The United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops, ending a five-day meeting Friday, acknowledged the inevitable breakup of their denomination – a schism that will widen this weekend with the launch of a global movement led by theologically conservative Methodists. By HOLLY MEYER and DAVID CRARY, Associated Press
