These 55 Florida churches want to leave the United Methodists after LGBTQ divide

Lauren Walck
·3 min read
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Fifty-five churches are asking to leave The Florida Conference of The United Methodist Church this weekend as part of a nationwide split between traditionalists and progressives.

The divide, while ongoing for decades, reached a head over the support of the LGBTQ+ clergy and marriages in the church.

The national United Methodist Church General Conference in 2020 signaled it would be inclusive of the gay community by proposing a split into two denominations, but COVID has delayed that decision until 2024.

So many churches are now leaving for the more traditional and conservative Global Methodist Church, which started in 2022, even though it will likely cost more money.

The Florida conference is holding a special session Saturday to vote on whether to allow 55 churches — 20% of the weekly in-person worship attendance — to leave.

There are currently 550 churches in the conference. In 2021 and 2022, 17 Florida churches were approved to disaffiliate.

In order to leave, the churches must pay a share of the clergy pension liabilities and two years of the money normally paid to the conference, plus repay any loans.

Some churches will have to pay as much as $400,000 to leave, and the highest is over $1 million.

But if the plan proposed in 2020 is passed in 2024, the churches may not have to pay those fees.

The value of the 55 churches’ assets, not including real estate, is $35,792,640, according to the conference.

Last year, over 100 churches sued the Florida Conference to be able to leave without following the process outlined in the national conference’s governing laws, which includes payment.

But this week, the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Starke dismissed the case saying the court does not have jurisdiction in church affairs.

Other state conferences have seen the same schism, such as North Carolina, Alabama, Georgia and more. Late last year, over 400 churches in Texas voted to leave.

The list of Florida United Methodist churches who want to disaffiliate, locations and what they will pay to leave:

Atlantic Central District

  • Canal Point UMC, Canal Point - $25,538

  • Community UMC, Belle Glade - $50,069

  • Community of Hope UMC, Loxahatchee - $863,246

  • Georgianna UMC, Merritt Island - $349,157

  • Roseland UMC, Roseland - $88,091

East Central District

  • Community UMC, DeBary - $88,286

  • Deleon Springs UMC, Deleon Springs - $25,358

  • Dundee UMC, Dundee - $45,033

  • First UMC, Clermont - $422,894

  • First UMC, Deland - $233,109

  • First UMC, Tavares - $171,972

  • Pine Castle UMC, Orlando - $460,335

Gulf Central District

  • Alturas UMC, Alturas - $15,385

  • Bay Hope UMC, Lutz - $1,135,566

  • First UMC, Lutz - $146,535

  • New Hope UMC, Brandon - $421,470

  • Palma Ceia UMC, Tampa - $293,576

  • Sylvan Abbey UMC, Clearwater - $48,414

  • Tampa Korean UMC, Tampa - $139,350

North Central District

  • Crystal River UMC, Crystal River - $135,053

  • Grace at Ft. Clarke UMC, Gainesville - $266,378

  • Little Chapel-Santos UMC, Ocala - $23,082

  • New Hope UMC, Citra - $4,491

  • Spring Life UMC, Spring Hill - $233,984

North East District

  • Faith UMC, Jacksonville - $65,157

  • First UMC, Callahan - $36,591

  • Lakewood UMC, Jacksonville - $358,990

  • Middleburg UMC, Middleburg - $97,068

  • Pierson UMC, Pierson - $33,677

  • Riverdale UMC, St. Augustine - $18,602

  • St. James UMC, Palatka - $79,258

  • Welaka UMC, Welaka - $4,500

North West District

  • First UMC, Alachua - $114,126

  • Deer Lake UMC, Tallahassee - $134,798

  • First UMC, Lake City - $93,433

  • Killearn UMC, Tallahassee - $463,857

  • Salem UMC, Havanah - $63,585

  • Waukeenah UMC, Monticello - $24,039

South East District

  • Community UMC, Marathon - $53,053

  • Korean American of S. Florida UMC, Tamarac - $152,573

  • North Hialeah Hispanic UMC, Hialeah - $44,957

South West District

  • Alva UMC, Alva - $56,061

  • Christ UMC, Lehigh Acres - $107,004

  • Christ UMC, Venice - $460,688

  • Edgewater UMC, Port Charlotte - $189,310

  • Englewood UMC, Englewood - $381,681

  • Estero UMC, Estero - $291,889

  • First UMC, Moore Haven - $40,254

  • First UMC, Sebring - $209,445

  • First UMC, Clewiston - $69,775

  • Grace UMC, Cape Coral - $609,539

  • Oneco UMC, Bradenton - $61,912

  • Port Charlotte UMC, Port Charlotte - $182,934

  • St. James UMC/New Beginnings Preschool, Sarasota - $69,192

  • St. John UMC, Sebring - $112,721