A dispute between members of the United Methodist Church in Nigeria and the Global Methodist Church (GMC) escalated to violence Sunday, resulting in three fatalities.

Nigerian news outlet The Guardian reported that the clash began after one group “unsealed” a church building, leading the other group to do the same. Local Methodist churches had previously been shut down by the state government to calm ongoing tensions.

State Police Public Relations Officer Abdullahi Usman was quoted by The Guardian as confirming the three deaths. However, the report did not reveal the identities of the victims or how they were killed. Usman also announced six arrests and said the authorities were working to prevent further violence.

Both the GMC’s Assembly of Bishops and the UMC’s Council of Bishops issued statements calling for prayer and peace. The latter provided additional context and pointed blame at the GMC members, stating, “In this season of Advent, The Council of Bishops calls all United Methodists to pray after the Bwoi United Methodist Church in Bunkabu, Nigeria, was attacked in its building. Three United Methodists were killed; a 28-year-old by gunfire and two young children when a fire was set to their home.”

UMC Bishop John Schol echoed those claims on social media.

“This past Sunday, a group of people associated with the Global Methodist Church with weapons entered the Bwoi United Methodist Church in the Village of Bunkabu, Taraba State, Nigeria and shot and killed 27-year-old Masoyi Elisha and wounded 10 others,” Schol wrote. “Later 11 homes of United Methodists were set on fire, killing two children in one of the homes, ages 2 and 4.”

However, GMC elder and author Chris Ritter noted at his People Need Jesus blog that “Bishop Schol’s version of events conflicts with other versions shared by those closer to the action.”

Ritter said that according to Nigerian sources on WhatsApp, the denominational conflict exacerbated a local family feud dating back to at least 2011, and the realignment of the Nigerian conferences from the UMC to the GMC “estranged certain families” who had helped plant rice on church land.

“The harvest of the rice became a flashpoint and plans to divide the harvest were rebuffed,” Ritter wrote. “When news was shared that GMC members had harvested the rice, a UMC-aligned member shot a GMC-aligned member in an altercation following Sunday worship. Family members of the man who was shot took revenge by burning down houses owned by this UMC-aligned family. Home burnings seemed to have occurred on both sides in a spirit of mutual retaliation.”

Ultimately, Ritter advised taking both versions “with at least a grain of salt” as the fact-finding process continues.

The GMC splintered from the UMC in 2022 in response to the denomination’s increasing slide toward affirming gay marriage and the ordination of clergy who identify as LGBTQ and now boasts more than 4,700 congregations around the world.

This piece is republished from MinistryWatch.

Tony Mator is a Pittsburgh journalist, copywriter, blogger and musician who has done work for World magazine, The Imaginative Conservative and the Hendersonville Times-News, among others. Follow his work and observations at twitter.com/wise_watcher.