Over One Million United Methodists Quit Church After New Rules Allowing Gay Pastors And Gay Marriage

More than a million United Methodists quit the church overnight over new rules about homosexuality. In early May, the United Methodist Church in North Carolina changed its rules to allow gay pastors and same-sex marriage. The Ivory Coast division, with about 1.2 million followers, accused the international leaders of 'deviating from the Holy Scriptures' and 'sacrificing its honor and integrity to honor the LGBTQ community.' Bishop Benjamin Boni, president of the Ivory Coast division, said the decision to separate after more than 20 years was made 'for reasons of conscience.' 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.'