Pandemic accelerated decline in church funding and membership

The coronavirus pandemic is accelerating the collapse of several mainline Protestant churches by curtailing charitable giving and forcing the cancellation of church conferences.

The two churches most visibly suffering are the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church. Already divided by bitter intra-church disputes over gay marriage, the two churches each had factions formally planning to split before the pandemic hit. State restrictions on large gatherings, however, forced them to put off those plans.