Amidst an ongoing debate about gender and sexuality issues, the United Methodist Church (UMC) in America has seen nearly one third of churches have decided to split from the denomination.
Hundreds of churches seperated from the UMC over the weekend.
The tensions have been caused due to the churches conflicting views on hosting same-sex marriages and ordaining LGBT clergy.
Within the General Conference in 2019, the UMC voted 438-384 to keep the church's ban on officiating same-sex marriages and ordaining LGBTQ clergy.
On Saturday delegates from the UMC's Corolina Conference voted 957-165 to approve that 249 conservative congregations in the regional body could leave.
They aim to be disaffiliated from UMC by the end of this year.
Churches in Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana have also stated they want to leave the UMC.