re: Over 25% of Methodist churches abandon denomination as schism grows over LGBTQ+ issues

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Speaking to one of the n.o. Churches minister and board members, the story was that churches voting to leave had to buy the property (they didn’t mention any favorable terms) and the employee pensions on a short timeline after they voted to leave.

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Not totally true. As I posted in another, the Methodist Church holds the properties in trust. If you vote to disaffiliate, typically, you must pay 2 years in apportionments and pay unfunded pension liabilities. The pension stuff is completely fair as the pensions must be maintained. Many churches can't afford the 2 years in apportionment but it's still much less than buying the property unless you are upside on liabilities. So UMC might let you go for nothing as they don't want to assume your debt.