The leader of East Texas’ United Methodist conference has endorsed a plan that would allow conservative churches to leave the denomination over same-sex marriage.

The announcement by Bishop Scott J. Jones comes ahead of a May meeting at which delegates from across the globe are expected to vote on one of six plans that would create anywhere from one to four new Methodist groups.

Calling it the “least bad way forward,” Jones said he “reluctantly” decided to support the plan for “reconciliation and grace through separation” which would pave the way for the creation of a new, “traditionalist” denomination of Methodist churches.

“I deeply regret that we have come to this point,” Jones told the Chronicle Monday, “but given where we are I want to bless all of the United Methodist churches of my conference and help them be as strong and viable as possible.”

Should the UMC’s global delegates approve the plan, Jones said he anticipates that his conference, which includes roughly 700 churches in east Texas, would also vote on which denomination to join. Prior to that, he said, there would be an “aggressive” campaign to inform churches how leaving or staying might affect them.

“I want the choices to be as clear and comprehensive as possible,” he said.

But, he added, “nothing has been decided until” the UMC’s General Conference adjourns.

The pastor of one gay-friendly church in Houston said she supported Jones’ endorsement of the plan, which she also said is imperfect but provides a path forward.

“This is not perfect, but it’s a way to stop the harm so that we can create a space where people are fully included,” said the Rev. Diane McGehee. “We are harming people at a soul level.”

McGehee’s church, Bering Memorial, has been particularly supportive of LGBTQ causes. In January, the Montrose church blessed same-sex unions, a celebration that Jones said at the time is “allowed under our practice of being in ministry with lesbian and gay persons.”

Jones has previously avoided taking an official stance on the various proposed plans, but has also been critical of churches that have performed marriages for same-sex couples, which he believes contradicts the UMC’s official stance on homosexuality. The church has had disputes over social issues for decades.

In 1972, at the behest of a Texas attorney and layman, the UMC approved language stating that gay people were equal in God’s eyes and deserving of equal rights, but that homosexuality was nonetheless “incompatible” with Christian belief.

Since then, the so-called “incompatibility clause” has routinely been challenged by more progressive UMC members, who say it alienates gay clergy and congregants.

Polling shows that Methodists in the United States hold views on homosexuality that mirror broader trends in America, with younger people generally supporting same-sex marriage.

The UMC has continued to expand in Africa, Asia and other parts of the globe that hold more conservative views on social issues. That has shifted power away from progressives in the United States while empowering opponents of same-sex marriage.

The impasse was complicated by the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States in 2015, which forced ministers to decide whether to perform gay marriages and “for the first time… confront how the United Methodist Church understands sexuality,” Methodist historian Ashley Dreff said recently.

Rather than reconcile opposing views on sexuality in the 1970s, she said, the UMC adopted language that allowed room for differing opinions. It was a good idea in theory, she said, but made a fracture foreseeable.

“I like to say it is the beauty and the bane of United Methodism because it’s beautiful in concept, but it does not work in practice, especially when it comes to sexual ethics,” she said. “Because when you are creating a sexual ethic within a theologically plural society, someone’s going to be left out.”

robert.downen@chron.com