Christianity began splintering as soon as it began, and the beat goes on.

Congregations have bolted over ordaining women, over blessing interracial marriages, over who is head of the church even which bible or hymnal to use.

The Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America went through this already and they survived, albeit smaller in numbers and so will the United Methodist Church. The real silver lining is that those that remain are usually have a deeper commitment to the church.

Then the anti equality folks can become Baptists

Short story:

In the early 70's my folks were living in small town Missouri. The local Methodist church had a new minister that was originally from the MN/WI area. The church attendance had been falling, as a matter of fact you could see a line of folks leaving the Methodist church just after Sunday School ended to walk down the block to the Baptist church for the main service. I was going to school but on a visit to my folks decided to see just how bad the services were to cause such a blatant exodus.

Well, the minister was a pleasant older fellow with a homey style. He was talking about growing up in the Northern Midwest and how many of the families were descended from Nordic and Russian immigrants (think Prairie Home Companion). He was saying that they were hardworking folks, especially the Russians, just like us. They loved their families and sacrificed to make their lives better, especially the Russians, just like us. And, they had close knit communities, especially the Russians, that were often wary and hard to get to know for outsiders, JUST LIKE US!

Well, those that were still coming to his services lined up to shake his hand and thank him for the wonderful sermon. Anyway, everyday folks tend to be the same in most places. Some want enlightenment and some want pandering, JUST LIKE US.