United Methodist delegates have overwhelmingly endorsed a constitutional amendment many say could defuse debates over the role of LGBTQ people in the church. The amendment, approved Thursday at the denomination’s gathering in Charlotte, N.C., gives each region of the international church the ability to make their own decisions on divisive issues.

The plan would create multiple regional conferences for the worldwide denomination — one for the United States and others covering areas ranging from the Philippines to Europe to Africa.

The vote total easily passed the two-thirds majority required for an amendment to the United Methodist Church’s constitution. To become official, however, it will require approval by two-thirds of its annual conferences, or local governing bodies.

The next annual conference for the UMC North Georgia Conference is in June in Athens, but spokeswoman Sybil Davidson said the issue won’t come before the body until next year.

“It has been a long journey towards this day,” the Rev. Byron Thomas, chairman of the North Georgia Conference’s delegation, said in a statement, calling it a historic day within the denomination. “I could not be more proud to be part of those who voted along with so many others in favor of this proposal.”

Existing UMC regions outside the United States — known as central conferences — already have the flexibility to adapt church rules to their local contexts, but the jurisdictions in the United States do not. This constitutional change would give the U.S. church that flexibility, while defining autonomy more closely for all of the regions.

The measure comes during the first General Conference to be held since one-quarter of U.S. congregations left the denomination over the past four years — most of them conservative churches reacting to the denomination’s failure to enforce rules against same-sex marriage and LGBTQ ordination.

Many African churches, where congregations are growing faster than in the United States, are more conservative than their U.S. counterparts. In previous General Conferences they have largely opposed any moves to change the language regarding human sexuality.

Since 2022, more than 330 churches have left the UMC’s North Georgia Conference, which covers the state north of Macon. That represents about 38% of the conference’s churches and 27% of its members. Today the conference has about 440 churches remaining — but nearly a dozen new congregations are forming.

The smaller South Georgia Conference of the UMC has lost about half of the congregations since 2020, according to spokeswoman Kelly Roberson. The South Georgia Conference, which includes the area south of Macon, currently has 274 congregations, which includes established churches, missional congregations, and new church starts.

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