A conservative United Methodist Church leader has stated his support for a proposal that allows UMC churches to leave the denomination over LGBT issues.
The Rev. Joseph F. DiPaolo, member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association Council, said that while he used to support staying with the UMC to “contend for the faith once delivered to the saints,” he stated that “I no longer believe that is possible.”
Recently, UMC leaders representing diverse views on the LGBT debate announced their support for a proposal called the “Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation.”
If approved, the protocol would allocate $25 million for conservative Methodists to vote to leave the UMC and create their own Church, tentatively labeled “traditionalist Methodist.”
DiPaolo argued in a column Friday that the UMC is “irretrievably broken” due to the debate over homosexuality.
“Progressive clergy, churches and conferences stepped up their campaign of resistance, through defiance of our disciplinary covenant,” he wrote.
“Many bishops have been complicit, either through overt support, or by failing to exercise any meaningful accountability toward those who break their covenantal vows.”
SOURCE: Christian Post, Michael Gryboski
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