The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination and one of the largest Protestant bodies in the United States. Formed in 1968 through the merger of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its theological roots to the 18th-century revival movement led by John Wesley. The denomination holds to an Arminian theological tradition, emphasizing free will, preaching, and the possibility of full sanctification. Its polity is episcopal - governed by bishops - with a connectional structure linking local congregations to regional conferences and a global General Conference that sets church law.

The UMC operates under a constitution and a body of church law known as the Book of Discipline. Doctrine is grounded in what Methodists call the Wesleyan Quadrilateral: Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. The denomination maintains missions, educational institutions, and healthcare organizations worldwide. Historically active in American social reform movements - including abolitionism and temperance - the UMC has engaged successive waves of cultural and political controversy throughout its history.

The church experienced sustained internal conflict beginning in the late 20th century over questions of human sexuality, particularly the ordination of openly gay clergy and the officiating of same-sex marriages. That conflict culminated in a formal denominational split. Enabled by legislation passed at the 2019 General Conference, more than five thousand theologically conservative congregations and annual conferences disaffiliated from the UMC between 2022 and 2024 to form or join the Global Methodist Church, a new Wesleyan denomination holding to traditional Methodist teaching on marriage and sexuality. The disaffiliation process concluded formally around the 2024 General Conference, at which the UMC removed longstanding prohibitive language regarding homosexuality from the Book of Discipline, lifting bans on the ordination of openly gay clergy and the performance of same-sex marriages by United Methodist clergy. The restructured UMC retains the episcopal-connectional polity and the broader Wesleyan theological heritage.

Following the disaffiliation of thousands of congregations, the UMC's domestic membership has declined substantially from its mid-20th century peak, though the denomination retains a large global membership, particularly in Africa and the Philippines, where theologically conservative positions remain dominant among affiliated conferences. The relationship between the restructured UMC and its international membership continues to be negotiated. The Global Methodist Church, launched as a separate denomination, represents the primary institutional home for congregations that departed over the sexuality debates, though some departing congregations affiliated with other Wesleyan or independent bodies.

There is no single theological or ecclesiastical consensus within Methodism on questions of human sexuality, ordination standards, or the authority of the Book of Discipline. The UMC's 2024 policy changes represent the position of the restructured denomination's General Conference, not a consensus across the broader Wesleyan-Methodist tradition. For scholarly and ecclesial positions on related questions, see relevant consensus and viewpoint pages.

• Traditional/Orthodox Methodist View - holds that the Book of Discipline's historic language on marriage and sexual ethics reflects Scriptural teaching and Wesleyan tradition, and that the 2024 changes represent a departure from orthodox Christian doctrine. See Traditional Methodist Viewpoint.

• Progressive/Affirming Methodist View - holds that full inclusion of LGBTQ persons in church life and leadership is consistent with Wesleyan emphases on grace, reason, and experience, and that the traditional prohibitions were incompatible with human dignity. See Affirming Methodist Viewpoint.

• Centrist/Institutionalist View - held, particularly during the decades of conflict, that the unity of the connectional church was itself a theological value, and that schism represented a failure of Wesleyan catholicity. See Centrist Methodist Viewpoint.

• United Methodist Church - History
• United Methodist Church - Debate
• Global Methodist Church
• Methodism
• Protestant Christianity
• Same-Sex Marriage - Religious Viewpoints

1. The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church merged on 23 April 1968 in Dallas, Texas, to form the United Methodist Church. United Methodist News Service.
2. The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church is revised and adopted at each General Conference, held quadrennially.
3. The Wesleyan Quadrilateral as a formal framework was articulated by Albert Outler in the 20th century, though Wesley himself did not use the term. See Outler, Albert C. “The Wesleyan Theological Heritage” in Theology in the Wesleyan Spirit. Discipleship Resources, 1994.
4. The 2024 General Conference removed the phrase “incompatible with Christian teaching” from the Book of Discipline with respect to homosexuality and lifted bans on ordination of openly gay clergy and same-sex marriages performed by United Methodist clergy.
5. The Global Methodist Church launched as a provisional denomination in May 2022. Global Methodist Church Transitional Leadership Council.