A couple of years ago, I took a sabbatical from the United Methodist Church and never went back. Back then my parish was trying to decide whether or not to become a reconciling congregation (basically whether or not to openly accept gays in the church), and the negative tone of the conversations between parties on both sides became a major turnoff. The debates where quite heated and got extremely personal. I didn’t really want to walk away but it was hard to see many in the congregation in the same light as their conduct was very unchristian like. Back then I thought the Church would split in two. Now news of the lesbian Minister who is on trial further confirms my suspicions that at some point in the near future the United Methodist Church will split. There are those like myself who believe that the Church should be welcoming and tolerant of all. But there are other hardliners, who are not interested in change. I suspect that it is this segment of the United Methodist Church that is pushing this ridiculous trial forward.