Church members at First United Methodist Church of Louisville, Mississippi have overwhelmingly voted to withdraw the congregation's membership from the UMC denomination, citing a number of issues including homosexuality and abortion as the reasons.
Members of the over 180-year-old congregation held a "membership affirmation" vote this past Sunday to determine whether they wished to remain affiliated with UMC. In a 175-6 vote, the congregation expressed its desire to remove the church from the denomination.
"This is not a decision based upon dissatisfaction with our fellow churches in the Mississippi Conference. We have great respect for Bishop James Swanson and the leaders of the Mississippi Conference of the UMC," Rev. Mike Childs said in a statement following the vote. "Rather, this is a decision that our consciences forced us to make because the failure of the United Methodist denomination to...
