Methodist Church approves split of 261 Georgia congregations after LGBTQ+ divide

Pedestrians cross a rainbow painted crosswalk in Midtown Atlanta on Friday, Oct. 9, 2015, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

The North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church voted to allow 261 congregations to break from the denomination amid a schism over theological differences and the role of LGBTQ+ people in the church.

The conference ratified the disaffiliation requests from the congregations during a special session Saturday, allowing the churches to leave the denomination, news outlets report. The exit marked a “solemn day,” the North Georgia Conference of the UMC said in a news release.

The United Methodist Church has long debated its bans on same-sex marriages and the ordination of openly LGBTQ+ clergy. The denomination forbids the marriage or ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals,” but some U.S. churches and clergy have defied the bans. Many conservatives have chosen to leave amid a growing defiance of those bans.