This episode deals with the ongoing division within, and likely schism of, The United Methodist Church, the second largest Protestant denomination in the US and a global church of approximately 12 million members. It is the largest single body within the 80 million member World Methodist Council, a consortium of Wesleyan and Methodist denominations around the world. For decades The United Methodist Church has been divided by several issues. The one pushing it toward schism is the role of LGBTQIA+ people within the church.
Here to talk with us about this and why it matters are the Rev. Dr. Izzy Alvaran and Rev. Jeremy Smith. Rev. Alvaran is an ordained elder in the denomination. He serves as an organizer for the Reconciling Ministries Network, an organization of United Methodists working for justice and inclusion for LGBTQA people in the United Methodist Church and beyond. He is an out gay pastor from the Philippines living and working from San Francisco. Rev. Smith is pastor at Seattle First United Methodist Church, serves on the board of the board or commission of the General Commission on Archives and History for the denomination, and he runs HackingChristianity.net, a popular blog about technology, church, faith, and United Methodism. Hacking Christianity has been covering, in detail, the various movements within and outside of the denomination.
