Amarillo United Methodist Church launches after other churches leave denomination

After every single Methodist church in Amarillo voted to leave the United Methodist denomination over the last few months — a series of moves that made Amarillo the largest city in the nation without a United Methodist congregation — a new United Methodist church was officially chartered on Sunday.

Amarillo United Methodist Church offers a new church home for United Methodist congregants who wish to remain part of the denomination but suddenly found themselves without a body to belong to. The church was officially named and chartered, or "constituted," during a special service Sunday at St. Luke Presbyterian Church, where the group has been meeting for the last few weeks.

The constituting service featured guests from all across West Texas, including UMC leaders from the Northwest Texas Conference. Bishop James G. Nunn preached the sermon Sunday morning.

"Jesus is not through with the United Methodist Church. Jesus is not through with us. Jesus has not completed the mission that God has imagined, and dreamed, and created, and called the people of the United Methodist (Church) together to fulfill," Nunn said during the sermon. "We today are evidence that God is not yet done with us. Aren't you glad to hear that?"

The Northwest Texas Conference adopted a process last June by which churches could vote to "disaffiliate," or leave the United Methodist denomination. The vast majority of the more than 200 Methodist churches in the Texas Panhandle, South Plains, Permian Basin and Big Country — including every single Methodist church in the city of Amarillo — opted to leave and join the newly formed Global Methodist Church or become independent.

The disaffiliations come in the midst of a schism arising mostly out of disagreements over gay marriage and sexuality, among other things, according to previous reporting.

More: Area Methodist churches adopt process for leaving UMC at annual conference in Lubbock

Amid the disaffiliations, UMC community groups began to pop up around the region in towns where no UMC congregations remained, including Dalhart, Plainview and Amarillo. The Amarillo group quickly grew and began sharing space with St. Luke after outgrowing its previous meeting space at a retirement home.

"The United Methodist Church has a rich history in the Amarillo community. In fact, the Methodists were the first congregation to organize in Amarillo back in 1888, and the fact that we're meeting in the Presbyterian church to get started kind of harkens back to those days. The Methodists built a church that became a union church," where multiple denominations worshipped, said Gary Pitner, chair of the Leadership Council at Amarillo UMC.

"We're a little bit of an odd duck in the United Methodist ecosystem out here. Last I heard, about 7 or 8% of the Methodist churches in the United States have chosen to take another path, but out here in our part of the world, it was a whole lot higher than that," Pitner added. "But there is a group of us, both laity and clergy, who were not willing to give up on our United Methodist heritage."

'The birth of a movement': One of first Global Methodist conferences launches in Lubbock

Rev. Felicia Hopkins, district superintendent for the Abilene District of the conference who led a business meeting Sunday, said the yearslong period of uncertainty within the UMC reminded its members of their true mission.

"This is just temporary housing for the work you have to do. The real work is still out there. So as we go forward, this body will be doing more things outside the church," Hopkins said. "Through this disaffiliation process, that's what they were reminded about."

Hopkins said she's looking forward to see what the future brings for the United Methodist Church in the Amarillo area.

"It's exciting to me — nobody gave us a bat's chance in heck to stand," Hopkins said. "But we have this Amarillo church, and it's going to be a hub church."

"There will be a presence in the Panhandle. I think it'll be a very different mix and a very different flavor, but it will be rooted and grounded in the Wesleyan theology of grace," Hopkins added. "We're not leaving the Panhandle."

Amarillo United Methodist Church meets for worship Sundays at 9 a.m. at St. Luke Presbyterian Church with Sunday school following. Rev. Robert Burke will lead the congregation as its senior pastor.

This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Amarillo United Methodist Church launches after other churches leave denomination