NAIROBI, Kenya (RNS) — Violent clashes have broken out between groups of Methodists in Nigeria and Liberia as a divide over the ordination of LGBTQ clergy and same-sex marriage has split the United Methodist Church.
In the eight months since the UMC voted to strike a condemnation of homosexuality from its governing Book of Discipline, tensions have arisen in Africa between dissenting congregations seeking to leave the 56-year-old denomination and those choosing to remain. The fighting between the two factions in Nigeria has left one adult and two children dead.
On Monday (Dec.16), an armed group associated with the Global Methodist Church, a breakaway denomination that rejects LGBTQ acceptance, attacked Bwoi United Methodist Church in Bunkabu, a village in northeastern Nigeria, according to a statement from the bishops of the United Methodist Church in Nigeria. Masoyi Elisha, 27, was shot dead and 10 others were injured.
In addition, 11 homes belonging to the United Methodists were torched, resulting in the deaths of two children, ages 2 and 4, according to the Nigerian UMC bishops. Some houses of members of the Global Methodist Church were burned down in retaliation.
“Today we grieve with the families and the United Methodists of Bunkabu,” said John Schol, an American UMC bishop who is serving as int …