The congregation at the Leighton United Methodist Church voted with more than 94 percent to disaffiliate with the Methodist denomination.

The church, located at the corner of 142nd Avenue and Second Street in Leighton Township. Henceforth it will be regarded as independent. Members of the church held a “Miracle Sunday” June 11 and raised more than 125% of the needed funds to exit the denomination.

According to an article published in the Detroit News recently, “Five dozen Michigan churches announced over the weekend they would disassociate from the United Methodist Church, a move that stems from a rift over LGBTQ+ issues and adherence to doctrine.

“The Michigan Conference of the United Methodist Church on Saturday adopted a motion to disaffiliate 60 assemblies, about 8% of the state’s United Methodist Churches, from its denomination…

“The fracture in one of the country’s largest Protestant denominations stems from the idea that the church is weakening its interpretation of its Book of Discipline, or its church law, allowing for same-sex marriages as well as LGBTQ+ clergy. Many of the departing churches have cited these issues as reasons for disaffiliating.”