Can this church be saved? Split on LGBTQ issues, United Methodists consider divorce | Peter Rowe

Sexual issues lead to many divorces, including the threatened split in the United Methodist Church. Divided on same-sex marriage and the status of LGBTQ believers, the nation's third largest Christian denomination — after Catholicism and the Southern Baptist Convention — may soon break up. "No one celebrates separation. I certainly do not," said the Rev. Jonathan Park, associate pastor of the Korean United Methodist Church of San Diego, a traditionalist congregation. "But I believe it is inevitable." The Rev. Bob Rhodes, whose leadership of the progressive Pacific Beach United Methodist Church has not prevented a close friendship with Park, agreed. For years, he had hoped the church's feuding wings could co-exist. "Then a friend asked if I were counseling a couple where one was abusing the other, would I counsel them to stay together?" Rhodes said. "I think both sides feel they have been abused by the other."