The Holston Conference in Tennessee has approved the disaffiliation of 264 churches from the United Methodist Church.

According to The Christian Post, over the weekend, church leaders gathered in a special session of the conference in downtown Knoxville to process requests for disaffiliation.

The UMC Holston Conference now includes 578 churches in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and North Georgia. Membership now stands at about 117,378.

"It is a poignant day as our disaffiliating churches and withdrawing pastors have played an important role in the lives of those of us continuing in The United Methodist Church," said Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, resident bishop. "Our conference vote today ratifying disaffiliations will not change the impact these pastors and churches have had on us."

The departures of churches from the denomination are part of continued disaffiliation from the UMC as the denomination has split over whether to change its official stance calling homosexuality "incompatible with Christian teaching," banning the blessing of same-sex unions, and prohibiting noncelibate homosexuals from serving as clergy.

A church law that expires later this year allows American church congregations in the UMC to "exit with their property if they meet specific financial and procedural requirements."

According to reports, some 2,095 U.S. congregations have withdrawn from the UMC since 2019.

In 2022, the Global Methodist Church officially launched as a theologically conservative alternative to the mainline Protestant UMC.

Many of the churches that have left the traditional UMC have joined the Global Methodist Church, while others have remained nondenominational.

"We feel loss in this separation," the Holston Conference said in a statement. "Yet we feel hope for our different paths forward. We will miss each other's contributions to the church family. While we know we will all continue to add to God's Church Universal. We trust that in the power of the Holy Spirit, God will continue to do good work through us in the communities we serve. We ask God's blessing on each other and on the whole family of God."

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