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Once the second largest protestant denomination in America, the United Methodist Church lost about a quarter of its members over issues of sexuality. Now, the church is overturning its prohibition on LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage.
Even after a wave of church disaffiliations since 2020 over LGBTQ issues, United Methodists face similar questions 4 years later.
In Ohio, almost 600 churches — or around 35% of the total — have disaffiliated since 2019, higher than anywhere else in the Midwest.
Handbook for the Christian Faith by James M. Dawsey, Foreword by John W. Wells, (Eugene, OR: Cascade Books, 2023).
Religious views that are perceived to be imposed become unpopular, and the coercion enforcing them becomes ultimately unsustainable.