The key to a churches survival is ownership of the property. With respect to church bldgs, grounds, etc. I believe in most cases the UMC owns the property. Thus they can dictate when property is no longer of use to the UMC as a denomination. Years ago I and some others saw the liberal direction the UMC was taking, and we left the church to form another denomination. Since the UMC owned the UMC church we attended, we had no choice but to walk away, gather funds, and buy/build our own church, which we did. I have known of denominations (or associations as some are structured) who had several small churches in a geographical area which were struggling. In every case, if the denomination owned the property, they dictated a merger. If they didn't own the property, the people of the church could decide whether they wanted to remain with the denomination or go off own their own. The UMC is in a struggle for its life now. They recently voted (as a denomination) during their annual conference to reject homosexual ordination, gay marriage, and a few more. However, the vote was very close and there is a significant movement within the UMC which favors liberalizing the UMC and allowing gay pastors, homosexual/lesbian marriages, etc. This opposition has pledged to get the votes needed to bring about this liberal agenda, and I believe they will be successful. Once this happens, the UMC as a denomination will split. Of this there is no doubt as a significant part of the UMC is in Africa, and not one African church is pro gay anything. They have already said they will leave the denomination if the pro gay agenda is approved. Here at home, there are now gay/lesbian pastors in the UMC, and some UMC churches have already held gay marriages. I expect the trend to only worsen. I suggest anyone who has an interest in the UMC google this recent conference.
