'Fresh Expressions' is a denominational initiative intended to connect people who may not be interested in church but are interested in learning a new skill or making new friends.
Even after the departures, 24% of North Carolina clergy remaining in the denomination disagree with allowing LGBTQ people to get married and ordained within the denomination.
After a four-year COVID-19 delay, and the departure of about 25% of its U.S. churches, the United Methodist Church is meeting again and the issue of human sexuality is back on the agenda.
This issue of A Public Witness tracks which members of Congress are no longer part of the United Methodist Church to consider what that reveals about Methodist life as well as religion and politics more broadly.
The same area of the country that tends to be the most politically conservative and Republican-leaning was where most United Methodist churches voted to leave the denomination.
Many departing congregations have joined the more conservative Global Methodist Church, with others joining smaller denominations, going independent, or still considering their options.
In 2015, Tim Carey was appointed lead artist for a stained-glass window more than 90 feet long and nearly 40 feet high for the largest United Methodist congregation in the U.S.
Bishop Minerva Carcaño, the first Latina bishop in the denomination and a prominent voice on behalf of immigrants, faced four charges of violating church law.
The meeting would focus on re-establishing connection within the United Methodist Church after years of strife over the ordination and marriage of its LGBTQ members.
United Methodist bishops from across the globe are meeting this week for the first time in person since the COVID-19 pandemic.