The results speak for itself - UMC membership is sharply declining. That’s what happens when you: 1) base your membership on Book A, and then 2) quote section X of Book A to prove that sections Q, R , M and …are out-of-date and full of crap. Hanging out a gay flag in front of a UMC church is implicitly screaming that you think Bible is full of crap. Speak out of however many sides of your mouth that you want to, until you are in the pulpit speaking to yourself.

“Be nice to each other, or I will go back and delete your comments.” Uploading a church video, or any video for that matter, about a contentious topic is going to lead to heated debate potentially. I respect you all left the comments section on. That being said, deleting comments you don’t like and/or agree with is a poor decision.

I think it is referring to flagrant, flaunting, overt behavior versus a sincere person whom God is drawing to Christ. I welcome them with open arms. Does anyone really believe there were zero non heteros among the Jews that formed the early church and the crowds that came to faith at Pentecost?? We Christians ought to focus on serving God and Christ's love rather than getting our undies all up in a twist if we do not want our precious Savior and faith to be lost in the shadow of other faiths in the future. It's called hypocrisy. Who among us never recognizes our own sin long after coming to faith. No wonder a lot of people think we're a bunch of gasbags and have no interest.

So, you are saying that we should couch our understanding of scripture based upon current social norms? Society has changed over time to become more agreeable as a means to avoid conflict. But that is not a biblical construct as it sacrifices the salvation of those we love. 1 Corinthians 2:5 says "that your faith shall not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God". Should I stay in the UMC, it will be as a "disruptor" in support of traditional biblical views within an apostate church.

Apostates. Doctrines of Demons

So refreshing. We need tolerance and love for Christ. Living with diversity makes us better people. Fearing change limits our ability to grow

Rev. Hamilton it is wonderful to see your personal growth around the issue of LGBTQ Christians and their relationship to the UMC. I was present at the 2000 General Conference and witnessed how you and others helped to save the life of a lesbian woman who was so distraught at witnessing the legislative rejection of LGBTQ persons that she nearly fell from a balcony. I was deeply hurt at the time of the UMC’s 1972 rejection of LGBTQ persons, because I felt a sincere call to ministry as a gay man. I was 21 years old then. I didn’t believe I would live to see the change that occurred at the 2024 General Conference. Of course, I am now 73 years old and there is no chance a man my age will be licensed to preach- and so the change took too long in my case. But I will never regret the path God’s call led me on. I have been aware of and critical of your published views since before that General Conference in 2000. I deeply respect how you have grown over that time. Thank you, Reverend Adam for your faithfulness and your ministry!

100% of the Bible is inspired, inerrant, infallible. God's Word is not a cafe menu where you get to choose what you "think" the writer meant to say. Black and white ... sodomy is an abomination (gross sin); women are not to be leaders over men in the church and to keep quite; pastors are to preach the GOOD NEWS [Jesus died for the sins of HIS flock, rose in 3 days, and we can be His if we REPENT and follow Him as LORD] as read from the Bible - not BLM / DEI / not social justice / not name it and claim it / not tongues / not health and wealth / not good works will save you. The UMC has been transformed into a "cult" of sodomites by their Bishops and pastors.

Sadly the goat farms will endure for a time.

First christ said if everything that Jesus and disciples spoke about in in Scripture were not true then the whole Bible is voided nothing that was said Was true and that my fath in GOD would be a waste of time Because there would be no way to salvation. second GOD said that the word came from him in John 1 in the beginning was the word and the Word was God and the Word was with God all things were created for him and nothing was made without him. The apostate church will not see the inheritance of God nor the unrighteous Nor thern homosexual no adulterer Nor. Brothers and sisters of the real Church we are seeing today the rise of the Church of this Kingdom of this world we are getting closer to his return day by day be ready at all times. God said to honor him with all your mind soul and body.

Just curious…will the churches that want to exit be able to do that in 2025? What will be the requirements for that?

Is it now acceptable to be minor attracted because of your new interpretations of scripture it seems that it is

Don’t forget when Jesus turned over the money changers tables, He hates sin in His church. This is not His church. It’s about obedience and abiding in Him. This is called choosing to live in sin this is wrong and church leaders will be punished by God for leading their people astray. God’s wrath will come down on these leaders.

As a scientist, I feel strongly that any discussion of the place of LGBT persons in the UMC (or any another denomination) should begin with this fact: there is no evidence that being gay is a choice. So is one to be denied the sacraments of the church because one is gay? Is one to be denied a church wedding to someone he or she loves because both are gay? If a gay clergy member to be denied serving in a church because he or she is gay? Well, so far, the answer to those questions seems to depend primarily on whether you are, in general, conservative or liberal. The position taken by my UMC was that we should all remain under the umbrella of the United Methodist Church and allow individual churches to develop their own specific policies. Now, the time has arrived for finger pointing by me. The arrangement I just described just wasn't good enough for conservatives in the church. Most of them took the "it's my way or the highway" approach to solving this complex and difficult problem. It's the same attitude we also find in much of our politics. So here we are. We've now lost a substantial number of our churches to the Global Methodist denomination with some forming independent churches. The question now is: Can the Methodist Church, already in a state of decline, survive this?

7:14pm Sunday. SC

In Southern Baptist life, the camp meeting / chautauqua bifurcation was known as the Sandy Creek / Charleston traditions.

Thats why the umc is disappearing

Wow....is this a paster? Sir I was baptized and raised in a Methodist church. At the age of 26, I converted to Catholicism. You mention "spare the rod and spoil the child." Your interpretation is completely wrong. Shepherds never beat their sheep with their rod. The sheep were too valuable to them, as our children are to us. The rod was completely used as a guide when sheep were being transfered or moved from grazing area to grazing area. The shepard would hold the long end out when necessary to make a "fence" like boundary for sheep who were attempting to separate and go off in another direction that could be dangerous, like down a cliff. The hook part was used if shepherd needed to pluck a sheep out of the crowd in order to check for a perceived problem they may have noticed...like an injured hoof, leg or eye etc. because as you can imagine....if you noticed a problem and didn't act fast to "hook" that sheep....they could easily get mixed up in the crowd making it difficult for you to find them again as they all look alike, right? For a parent to "spare the rod" means to not guide your children in the rightvway or protect your child, to not look after them, keep them safe. Your story of the lesbian threatening to jump from the balcony tells me that is not a follower of Christ or one who knows God. That is a mentally ill person or perhaps attention seeker. In the Catholic church we think they might need an exorcism. If one has demons and they are allowed to stay in the church the will ultimately rip your church to shreads. I am glad that you took the time to mention that you were there to save her life, and that photos exist. In the Catholic church, we are taught that life has times that are difficult, times when we lose. It's not until you can look back and see it was all a part of Gods plan and God is always working towards the good. Another beautiful thing a priest said to us is that God always answers your pprayers....it's just that sometimes the answer is "No". Gods plan is perfect, Gods plan is beautiful. My son was diagnosed with autism, I lost a house in a fire while we were all away during the day. Never as a Mother did I cry or scream or yell or throw a fit, threaten to kill myself. I try and connect with God daily, he fills me with the peace that passes all understanding. We just had a reading from Job in Mass last week. None of my suffering compares to that. You mention that you had children you had baptized come out as gay and their parents were worried they wouldn't be accepted in church. I think the best advice is to tell a child to not engage in homosexuality. If its not possible for them to engage in hetrosexuality then don't have sex. Tell them to pray for God to help them through that and give them strength. Present, especially young boys, the medical data that shows that homosexual men have an increased risk for the need to wear adult diapers at younger than normal ages from using their rectum in a way that God didn't design. GOOGLE the study * anal sphincter structure collapse in homosexual males from the Library of medical sciences. Homosexual men are way more prone to infection as poop gets stuck under foreskin and can travel down into the urethra. Also of course HIV. Paster be a good shepard.....where is your rod? Children who think they may be transgendered should be told by preachers, ministers and priests that one is not able to alter the sex that God "assigned" to you....and any attempt to do so will create a cheap imitation. You don't embrace this crazy ideology in the church. I am actually astounded. Yes its is correct to love LGBT but No it is not correct to embrace their ideas as normal. If you had a drug addict in your church who was stealing or engaging in prostitution to feed their habit including homosexual prostitution. Would you attempt to correct them or would you say "Naw, I don't want to be seen as mean or not compassionate. Don't try and say we are living in a different time than Jesus. Even a small child knows that two men or two women together in a relationship is not normal. When a gay kid "comes out" to their parents, not one parent has ever gone to Facebook or to the telephone to say "we are so excited, we just received some great news". No parent has ever said "We couldn't be more proud to find out that our child is homosexual. It's most often initially devastating to parents. Those parents who are close to God will find peace. Why does this hurt parents....because it's not normal. A parent will never stop loving their child, God will never stop loving us. However when you normalize these things you are walking off a slippery slope. My father who came from a long line of Methodists would be devastated.

It struck me as the Pastor tried to explain historical context in interpretation re: the stoning of homosexual acts. Holiness of God's people living according to his standard is the context for interpretation. Stoning was the cultural practice understood by the people in that day of the gravity of the sin that was practiced. Regarding the killing of innocent babies in context (as difficult as it is to fathom, he is transcendent), the interpretation in context is God clearing of the land for placing his people there. Yes, it does sound horrific but the time of that day and age was such amongst the nations . Wiping out of the land - the people - was what happened both ways, that is, to Israel, Hebrew people as well as to the Gentiles. When Gentiles saw how God dealt with His people and the land, the nations knew who the God of Israel was. God was on par and even superseded the Gentiles in power and might. For the people to know who God was in that context, God did what He did. It is important to understand this. As a person from the East, we know this. Seek God and ask him to grant you understanding and a desire to follow Him. God loves the world and gave his own son, Jesus, subjecting him to the execution practices of that day to redeem us from the bondage of sin and to reconcile us to the Father, making us righteous in his sight purely by being covered by Jesus' shed blood. That we may be set apart. When we ask him, he will show us .

Wow. So rather than understanding the Bible in it's cultural context, you're using it's cultural context to tell people not to believe it. This is so sad. When the Methodist church was founded, it was known for standing strongly on scriptural morality, regardless of the depravity of society. Today it is the exact opposite. What really bothers me is the lies: "...we're united in our desire to follow Jesus Christ." No you're not. Jesus said "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments." You're teaching people that His commandments don't matter. You can do what you want with your organization, but please stop pretending that you care about Jesus. By His own definition of loving Him, you're failing. So stop lying. "... people who wanted to be told that they're not sinful because they wanted to love and be loved by someone else." You know this is not the issue. You know that it's not about simply loving people. You know it's about sexual practices that are explicitly denounced in the Old and New Testaments. I'm sincerely praying for you and the rest of the UMC. If you're still claiming to be Christian, then you open yourself up to correction from other Christians. That's why I'm telling you that you need to repent.

23:22 And beautifully exposed how manipulative the "new" (but obviously fundamentalist, effectively Southern Baptist formation) GMC conference wanted to go about this process of severing a United Methodist sect of Protestantism (one of the last "unified" sects around until this sad event). Force SCORES of moderate churches to expel their history with UMC, simply to cast homosexuals into a "deep sin" category: straight people are "better and more holy" than homosexuals, in effect. Thank God the justices did the right thing, forcing individual churches to stand on their own two feet on this issue, exposing just how painful and (quite frankly) unholy the division of the Protestant Christian Church is...Methodism was suppose to be better than that. Very disappointing development.

The Methodist church shouldn’t have ever united with the “brethren”

"Where do we find ourselves today?" Believing in God but denying His power, being blinded by human compassion.

There a lot of Issues not just sexuality why people's and churches are leaving the UMC and going to the Global Methodist Church.

I’ve seen and watched some of the liberals in power within this denomination do some of the most UNholy things imaginable to get their way. Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson comes to mind and they’re using the church property “trust” clause as a weapon to do it. Disgraceful and pathetic are two words I use. How any of them can continue to call themselves disciples of Christ is beyond me. I work in the church industry, and every single UMC church I walk into that is electing to stay, is suffering from massive attendance and tithing drops and are on the verge of bankruptcy. Same thing that happened with the PCUSA. The UMC will soon be a liberal shell of its former self. And I could make a lengthy video of some of the crap I’ve witnessed in just the last year alone.

Absolutely outstanding. Thank you Adam 👍👍

oops! nearly 26% left

And God’s anger burned against them. It’s in the Bible.

Why do you let yourself get talked into this. It sounds so clearly to be a matter where you discount God and are trying to fit in to a world that could care less about what the Bible says. Hmm.

Hey adam hamilton tell me about your 10 million and the gay agenda which destroyed the united methodis church, You are wrong!

My ggggg- grandfather grandfather (born in 1640) fled Bohemia in his early adulthood as he was a Moravian. They were being persecuted at that time. He went to Germany to live, his adult children immigrated to the US in 1725, they learned english on the boat trip there. His children continued their Moravian faith in God. They settled the wilderness in Virginia, hosted Moravian Missionaries in the wilderness. 🎉 Initially the 2 labels were loaded titles in this UMC split. Traditionalist vs Progressive. The general movement at this time years later is attempting to be educational of the process. In otherwise when we would ask our pastor, he would say "wait". That has continued. Sinners should be welcome in a church, but there are leadership guidlines in the Bible for Christian leadership. What does God say in the Bible? The Bible says leaders should be the husband of 1 wife. The Bible refers to a period of time when men became sexual partners with men and women became sexual partners with women. It is discouraged as to what God, our designer, addresses. God loves all of us sinners, but He encourages a life of overcoming what we want vs what He wants for us. His plan is historically balanced. No where in the Bible are homosexual unions promoted. Kids need parent love from/toward both role models of male and female. Take one of those out at any part of the child's development, the child has a challenging time growing close to the missing sex. I heard several adult children of homosexual parents say they themselves suffered from the impression that the homosexual parent expected them to protect and/or duplicate that homosexual parents choice. And one man said he felt he was betraying his mother's choice. He said missed a male role in his life after his parents divorce as his mom moved away with him. I & my twin were adopted at birth by our aunt and uncle who had already raised 2 boys who were in the Navy by our birth. Obedience to God makes us more rounded. God and Jesus love one another. Remember Jesus said "when you see Me you See God".

Watching today for some good news.

Your conservative position is very shaky!

God's moral stand cannot be changed to suit human instincts. Thanks that you did admit that you change but such change cannot be applied to God. His love for sinners has not changed but note that His anger towards sin has not changed too.

That's good one. As a church of we are called to present Christ to sinners because He died to save them. We are never called to promote and endorse sin which God hates.

Enemies of the cross

Thanks for a better explanation.

The UMC has lost its way. Apparently after 2000+ years of theology “they” now say “they were wrong”. YOU ARE WRONG, and holding things together is not going to happen with your WOKE IDEOLOGY. YOU WILL COWARDLY DELETE MY COMMENTS.

It appears that those who stay are just afraid to leave because it’s comfortable and easy to compromise clear Bible Christianity. Being Loving is not affirming ungodly behavior but be ready to help them as they are convicted.

Thank you. What an amazing job explaining things and your kind words.

Just came across this--intelligent, thoughtful, and prayerful--Thanks

Up till this point about you will not be required to do same-sex marriage that will not happen The same as our country is gone kids that don't have an issue with gay pride and don't wear rainbow at school or ostracized you can't just not where you have to support their cause will happen exactly the same in the progressive churches and ultimately you will have all the same issues in the churches.😊 We are called to live in the world but not be of the world whatever happened to celibacy and abstinence Don't remember a pastor in the last 20 years talking about it it solves so many issues but when I even broached the subject talking with anyone oh there goes those moral values trying to impose on everyone can't we even talk about that as a possibility

Excellent. I hope there is a book coming out of this. The church split in the past over slavery. This is the new “slavery” issue from my POV. Can someone show me where Jesus condemned homosexuality in HIS OWN actual words? His Great Commandment did not come with a caveat. “Love thy neighbor as thyself” except if they are…..(my Bible omitted the list-->can someone help me there? Please supply the verse and the wording, l would be most appreciative.)

his and his wife' s sons... ( not just his sons...)😮

I contacted the Bishop of my local church about all of the LGBTTQQIAA+ business. I said that I would hate to see this issue split the church. We could have reconciling churches and non - reconciling churches. There was a United Methodist Church minister who was de - frocked and then re - frocked... and then he was de - frocked again and re - frocked again ad nauseum. He had very personal problems with both his immediate family and his ministry because he and his wife were parents of two daughters and two sons who were all that way. One of his sons with siblings with all listening ears convinced his Dad to perform a marriage ceremony with him and another man. Oh yeah.😮

I have come to think of the United Methodist Church as a two-stage rocket. The energy of the first stage got us this far, but we aren't going to be able to go onward unless we discard that first stage, which would just hold us back. Looking forward to the living energy that will spring forth once this disaffiliation widely happens, which is happening now in Georgia.

It's not about loving or welcoming gays or lesbians both sides agree to that. It's about the lifestyle going against the teaching of t😂he Bible period. I guarantee abortion will be next. Progressives never stop until they get their way on everything. They could have joined one of many existing progressive denominations but no they set out to destroy a long time traditional one. It makes them feel good. The UMC will be a shell of it's former self. Tons of money used for missions lost to disafilliations.

God loves everyone regardless of their sins. What if we started to refuse alcoholic individuals or drug addicts due to their repeated sins? Shouldn't we leave the judging up to the Lord? And love one another regardless of their bad choices? Secondly, so many people have stopped going to church, can we afford to alienate people in these difficult times? I'm also a new member of the Methodist church.

The new Woke UMC has drag queen pastors. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpbWnaGgnN5na6c Good luck with that, Adam. It's mostly your fault.

The question everyone needs to be asking is “What saith the Scriptures?” Anyone can sugarcoat doctrine but what does God Himself say about the issue facing the United Methodist Church.