The United Methodist Church has removed Asbury Theological Seminary from its list of approved schools of theology for the preparation of candidates for ordination, according to a press release from the school.
The UMC’s University Senate’s decision comes after the seminary was adamant they would not endorse the denomination’s Church’s 2024 revision of its Social Principles, which officially eliminated church teachings against homosexuality and same-sex marriage (and caused them to lose a million members in a single day).
The United Methodist Church has been off the rails for a while now, with a few recent hits including:
- UMC Church Plays a Lesbian Love Song For Worship ‘But it’s too hard to resist: soft skin and soft lips’
- UMC Pastor Shocks Congregants By Revealing Himself To Be Transgender During Sermon
- United Methodist Church Releases Statement Supporting Sex-Changes for Children
- United Methodist Impastor Praises and Defends ‘Jezebel’ In Wildest Sermons Ever
- Drag Queen UMC Pastor Releases F-Bomb Laden ‘Slam Poem’ Torching The Bible as Uninspired
- UMC Pastor Cites ‘Ennegram 8’ and Her Astrological Sign as to Why She ‘Collects Enemies’
Asbury Theological Seminary, founded in 1923, is a multi-denominational evangelical seminary rooted in the Wesleyan tradition and serving over 75 different denominations. One of 26 non-UMC seminaries that was approved for ordination, it is often considered the ‘flagship’ seminary for conservatives Methodists, given that all 13 of the official UMC seminaries are theologically captured by the liberal majority and the other 25 are hardly better.
Currently, nearly 10% of students enrolled at Asbury are United Methodist, and they will be allowed to complete their program and be grandfathered in for ordination approval.
In a press release, Dr. David F. Watson, president of the seminary, was unapologetic about their departure.
“Their final decision to delist us was unilateral. .the Senate’s requirements, particularly those related to the UMC’s 2024 Social Principles concerning ‘Human Sexuality’ and ‘Marriage,’ are not aligned with Asbury Theological Seminary’s institutional ethos and the historic witness of the Christian faith.
We affirm marriage as sanctioned by God, which joins one man and one woman in a single, exclusive union for life, as delineated in Scripture, and provides the sole context for sexual intimacy, helping to ensure the blessings of that relationship as God intended.“Our theological commitments, including our commitment to Scripture, remain unchanged. As an independent, multi-denominational seminary in the Wesleyan tradition, we have remained steadfast for more than a century in teaching the unchanging truth of orthodox Christianity. Our mission and values are the same today as they have been for more than a century.”
Despite the progressive UMC parting ways, the seminary will still remains an approved theological institution for the conservative Global Methodist Church.
