Utah pastors at LGBTQ-friendly churches see Methodist split as ‘best solution’

(Leah Hogsten | Salt Lake Tribune file photo) The Rev. Rusty Butler and the congregation at Christ United Methodist Church were awash in rainbows during Sunday services, March 3, 2019, in a show of solidarity for its LGBTQ members. The proposal to allow opponents of LGBTQ marriage and ordination to split from the United Methodist denomination and form their own group is “probably the best solution at this point,” Utah’s Rev. Rusty Butler said Friday.

Powerful representatives of traditional and progressive wings of the church have been meeting for several months and concluded it would be best to divide into separate denominations, said Butler, pastor at the 600-member Christ United Methodist…