Chapin church decides on new affiliation after United Methodist break-up

A Midlands congregation that voted to split from the United Methodist Church in June has decided to join a new denomination.

Worshipers at the former Chapin United Methodist Church — which has since changed its name to Chapin Christian Community Church — voted overwhelmingly on Sunday to join the Foundry Network, a loose collection of churches that have come together after many split off from the larger Methodist denomination.

Chapin was one of more than 100 churches across South Carolina that formally left the United Methodists in June over concerns about doctrinal differences with the denomination’s national leadership. Like many of those churches, the 3,500-member church then entered what Pastor Jody Flowers called a 40-day “discernment period” to decide what kind of relationship it wanted to have with similar-minded churches.

“We didn’t want to be independent on an island,” Flowers told The State after Sunday’s vote. “So we thought ‘where could we go where we could be the biggest blessing, hopefully be an encouragement to other churches, and be blessed and learn from churches larger than us.”

A group of church members studied whether Chapin should join the Global Methodist Church, largely made up of conservative churches that had previously left the United Methodists; the older evangelical Free Methodist Church; or the smaller Congregational Methodist Church.

They ultimately settled on the Foundry, a looser affiliation of like-minded churches that will leave Chapin with more autonomy.

“We wanted to see what would fit best with us,” said Paul Allen, retired minister for congregational care, who served with the group looking at Chapin’s options for a new affiliation. Allen addressed a church meeting two weeks ago to formally recommend the church join the Foundry Network.

The Foundry Network, which only got started last year, takes its name from an 18th-century meeting group set up by Methodism founder John Wesley in a foundry in England where cannons were manufactured.

“We see in them relationships that we think will match up well with us,” Allen told the congregation. “We’re not an island to ourselves, and we’re not starting from scratch.”

Flowers said Chapin examined a dozen similar churches around the region to decide what kind of relationship would work for them. He expects ministry leaders at the church will have a monthly Zoom call each month “to share ideas” with their counterparts at other Foundry churches, and a “big conference” annually.

Money the church used to pay in apportionments to the United Methodists will now stay with Chapin under the new arrangements, Allen said.

The separation from the United Methodist Church comes with a name change for the local Methodist congregation, part of a trend of churches moving away from denominational labels to make it easier for new members to find their way to the church. Church leaders said they also wanted to move away from the recent controversy around the split from the larger United Methodist denomination.

The move comes as the national United Methodist church is split between those who want the denomination to move in a more accepting direction for LGBTQ members and more conservative congregations that are seeking to move away from the denomination for the same reason.

Many issues highlighted by the departing churches center on LGBTQ issues. The split is similar to those in other major Protestant churches in recent years that have faced internal struggles over whether and how to welcome LGBTQ people into the church. As some churches have named openly LGBTQ clergy or blessed same-sex marriages, other believers have peeled away from established denominations they feel no longer share their values.

The departing churches will owe the United Methodists a 10% tithe based on the value of the property, plus any unpaid apportionment giving, 12 months’ worth of additional apportionment and a “withdrawal liability” equal to the church’s proportion of any unfunded pension obligations.

In the end, 90% of the Chapin church members who opted to support joining the Foundry Network, 323 out of 359.

Chapin church leaders emphasized that the change will allow them to keep their focus on the local congregation off Lexington Avenue.

“‘Us’ is the more than 3,500 people from various faith backgrounds,” that make up Chapin Christian Community Church, said lay leader Becky McCormack, who also served with the study group. “So when it comes to the new church alignment, that’s something we had to remember.”