By Michael GryboskiMainline Church Editor Friday, August 09, 2024

The United Methodist Church says there are hundreds of congregations in Nigeria that will not leave the denomination because of its recent decision to allow the blessing of same-sex unions.

Recently, there have been conflicting reports about the UMC Nigeria Episcopal Area, which has 560,000 members, and whether it voted to leave the denomination.

A representative for the UMC directed The Christian Post to a a letter by Bishop John Schol, a member of the UMC's interim leadership team for the regional body, which was written on Monday and posted online.

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In the letter, addressed to the “United Methodists of Nigeria”, Schol denied reports that the four conferences of the West African nation voted to leave the UMC and join the Global Methodist Church.

“There are reports that Annual Conferences were held, and Conferences voted to leave The United Methodist Church. This is not true,” Schol wrote. “There were no Conference Sessions convened according to our Book of Discipline, and most delegates/conference members were not invited to these meetings.”

According to Schol, only the leadership of the Nigerian Episcopal Area and some of the regional body decided to disaffiliate from the mainline Protestant denomination.

“Several hundred congregations and clergy have already communicated that they will remain with The United Methodist Church. We are grateful for your conviction and courage. We pray with those who are concerned and sane,” he continued.

“I call all United Methodists and those who have left The United Methodist Church to follow Jesus Christ, who humbled himself and sought peace and reconciliation. When people do otherwise, they hurt the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

For decades, the UMC has been embroiled in a debate over whether to change its Book of Discipline to allow for the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of celibate homosexuals.

At the UMC General Conference held in the spring, delegates overwhelmingly voted to remove these initiatives from the Book of Discipline. This came after about 7,500 mostly conservative congregations disaffiliated from the denomination because of the debate.

In June, reports surfaced claiming that the UMC Nigeria Episcopal Area held a special session at Jalingo, where delegates voted to abandon the denomination due to the changes.

The conservative Methodist blog People Need Jesus posted a copy of the purported resolution, which explained that the Nigerian regional body believed the UMC was “prioritizing” the LGBT community “over the traditional beliefs held by many United Methodists in Nigeria.”

In July, Nigerian bishop John Wesley Yohanna sent a statement to Nigerian state officials explaining that, at a special called session held earlier that month, the regional body had voted to leave the UMC and join the GMC.

“Therefore we want to make a statement that because the church has derailed from Biblical principle, we cannot be in this church where…homosexuality can be celebrated,” declared Yohanna.

Yohanna also warned that any UMC congregation agreeing to the changes would be in violation of Nigerian law which prohibits and same-sex relations and LGBT advocacy groups.

However, a group of Nigerian UMC church officials issued a statement disputing Yohanna's claim, arguing that only the previous bishop and approximately 10% of the regional body decided to leave.

“Although we are saddened by their departure, we keep them in our prayers and wish them God's guidance in their new found community of faith,” the statement read. “We also want to make it categorically clear … that our denomination does not allow them to leave with any of the United Methodist property in the manner and manner the[y] gone.”

On August 1, the UMC named the bishops who would be part of an interim team to lead the Nigerian Episcopal Area until December, when new leadership for the regional body would be appointed. This group included Schol, Bishop Eben Nhiwatiwa and Bishop Patrick Streiff.

The GMC claimed that the Nigerian body joined their nomination, and Transition Liaison Officer Keith Boyette told CP in an earlier interview that their information on the matter “came directly from those in positions of authority on the ground in Nigeria.”

“They informed me that unanimous votes were taken at the duly called special sessions of each of the four annual conferences in Nigeria to withdraw from The United Methodist Church and join the Worldwide Methodist Church,” Boyette explained.

Boyette also said the GMC has “appointed leadership for each of” the four Nigerian conferences and “is moving forward to receive congregations and clergy into membership in the Global Methodist Church.”