Yesterday would have been the last day of the 2020 United Methodist General Conference, at which the denomination expected to vote on a possible split over gay marriage and other issues.

That conference has been postponed for more than a year, along with any vote on plans to formally divide factions in the denomination.  This past week’s meeting was postponed due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Three factions are talking of splitting one of the nation’s largest Protestant denominations up into three separate churches.  Conservatives in the denomination are not happy with what they see is the ongoing drift away from traditional, biblical teachings.  Centrist want to keep the denomination more or less intact and work out differences.  Liberal United Methodist want to see substantial changes to the denominations stance on social issues – like gay marriage.

A plan called the “Protocol of Reconciliation & Grace Through Separation,” released earlier this year, was expected to be voted on at the General Conference that was scheduled for May 5-15 in Minneapolis, but was postponed.

Most analysts say that even though the conference was postponed, a split among United Methodists is likely.