Of the nearly 20 United Methodist churches within Chattanooga’s city limits, one has moved, amid a historic schism, to leave the large denomination — and officially did so this week.
Named after a Cherokee chief, with roots in the mid-19th century, Lookout Valley’s Wauhatchie Methodist Church spent the past year mulling the prospect of leaving an institution which has grounded the spiritual identity of many families, like that of member Bill Clouse, for generations.
On the question of LGBTQ+ policy, the official doctrines of the United Methodist Church stand, prohibiting both the ordination of gay pastors and church sanction of same-sex marriage.
But Clouse was unsettled. After years of debate over those policies, many U.S. bishops, in a spirit of protest, said they would not abide by those clauses of the denomination’s rule book.