An Alabama megachurch that has nearly 5,000 members has left the United Methodist Church due to the mainline Protestant denomination’s ongoing debate over homosexuality.
Christ Methodist Church in Mobile, which reportedly has 4,936 members, was one of eight churches granted disaffiliation from the UMC by the Alabama-West Florida Conference at a special session held on Sunday.
The churches departed the UMC under paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline, which outlines the process by which congregations can leave the denomination due to the debate over LGBT issues.
Alabama-West Florida Bishop David Graves said in a statement released Sunday that he considered the disaffiliations as “another somber day in the life of the Alabama-West Florida Conference.”
“We are saddened to say farewell to the eight churches disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church…”