More than one million United Methodists quit the church overnight after sex rule change

More than one million United Methodists have quit the church overnight over new rules about homosexuality. 

During a North Carolina conference in early May, the United Methodist Church - a global denomination of Protestantism based in the US - changed some regulations to allow gay pastors and same-sex marriage.

The Ivory Coast division - which has an estimated 1.2 million followers - responded by accusing the international leaders of 'deviating from the Holy Scriptures' and 'sacrificing its honor and integrity to honor the LGBTQ community'. 

Bishop Benjamin Boni, who is president of the division, said it voted to separate from the umbrella church during a May 28 gathering in the Jubilee Temple of Cocody, Abidjan, on the southern coast of the West African country. 

He said in a statement that the decision to separate after more than 20 years was made 'for reasons of conscience'. 

Bishop Benjamin Boni (pictured), who is president of the division, said the separation was formalized during an 'extraordinary session' May 28 in Abidjan on the southern coast of the West African country

The move marks a huge blow to the United Methodists Church, as the Ivory Coast division known as EMUCI is the largest overseas jurisdiction, accounting for around 12 percent of the worldwide membership. 

EMUCI joined the United Methodist Church in 2002. The umbrella church was the result of a merge between the Evangelical United Brethren Church and the Methodist Church in 1968. 

Questions surrounding homosexuality have been a point of contention for the church for many years, with it previously upholding bans on same-sex marriage and the inclusion of homosexual pastors. 

The first openly gay Bishop in the United Methodist Church Karen Oliveto spoke about the divisions last year.  

'There's a whole segment of the church that's leaving because they don't want to be an inclusive church,' she told CBS News Colorado. 

The United Methodist Church, a worldwide denomination of Protestantism which is headquartered in the US, made the rulings at a conference in North Carolina early May. (Pictured: three bishops of the UMC) 

Pictured: United Methodist Church of Ivory Coast. Jubilee Temple of Cocody where the historic separation was formalized on May 28 

The first openly gay Bishop in the United Methodist Church Karen Oliveto (pictured) spoke about the divisions last year

'They're building a church based on who they're leaving out. And you have to wonder: If you're building a church on how you are leaving out, are you letting Jesus in?'

Oliveto remains in office in Mountain Sky, which covers Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Utah, despite her election being declared invalid after she came out in 2017. 

She most recently spoke out against the UMC Book of Discipline description of homosexuality being 'incompatible with Christian teaching' - which has now been removed - in April 2024, according to the Christian Post.