New church springing out of United Methodist denomination begins services in Gainesville

Feb. 13—Dick Williamson worshiped for decades as a United Methodist Church member, but recent years had put a bad taste in his mouth.

The denomination was "going more and more progressive, and that is not my theology," said Wiliamson. "I'm very basic in my theology. I'm very conservative."

He said he felt called by God to help start a Global Methodist Church in Gainesville. The end result was Asbury Chapel, which began meeting regularly on Jan. 8.

The Global Methodist Church began as a new denomination on May 1, 2022, breaking away from United Methodists after a long, heated debate over same-sex marriage and the ordination of openly gay clergy.

"We have been more than blessed," Williamson said in an interview this week about Asbury's beginnings. "The people I've talked to, I've asked them for two things: attendance and their financial support."

The church first gathered for a candlelight service on Christmas Eve, an event attended by 125 people, Williamson said.

Asbury holds worship services at 9:30 a.m. every Sunday at Memorial Park Funeral Homes and Cemeteries North-Riverside Chapel at 989 Riverside Drive, Gainesville.

Williamson, 88, left Gainesville First United Methodist to start the new church, but members have come from many area churches, said Asbury's pastor, the Rev. Whit Martin.

For his part, Martin, 41, grew up in the Gainesville area, attending Gainesville First United as a youth as part of a spiritual journey that included visiting other area churches.

Called to the ministry at an early age, he last pastored at a United Methodist Church in Villa Rica in West Georgia before he got a call from Williamson asking him if he was interested in leading the new church.

"I am humbled to be called to work beside the amazing people of Asbury Chapel, to provide the community with the opportunity to revive faithful Wesleyan Methodism," he said in a press release from the church.

"Christianity, when lived out in a faithful Methodist discipline, not only makes disciples of Jesus Christ, but makes others better because of a Methodist presence. We will work to add to our community's success."

The church derives its name from Francis Asbury, one of the first Methodist bishops sent to America by John Wesley, who founded Methodism.

Differences over same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy simmered for years in the UMC, and came to a head in 2019 at a conference in St. Louis where delegates voted to strengthen bans on LGBTQ-inclusive practices. Most U.S.-based delegates opposed that plan and favored LGBTQ-friendly options; they were outvoted by U.S. conservatives teamed with most of the delegates from Methodist strongholds in Africa and the Philippines.

In the aftermath of that meeting, many moderate and liberal clergy made clear they would not abide by the bans, and various groups worked on proposals to let the UMC split along theological lines.

In the meantime, the conservative Wesleyan Covenant Association had been formed and was reacting to the crisis, saying in 2019, "Should circumstances warrant, we remain prepared to launch a new Methodist movement."

From the association, the Global Methodist Church was started, Williamson said.

Asbury Chapel "was born out of a calling, to be quite honest," Martin said. "Some people may think that it came from splits, but ... it has nothing to do with any of that."

"We have a beautiful religious culture, and if we're not making our city better, if we're not making our culture better, what are we really doing?"

The Rev. Jamey Prickett, senior pastor of Gainesville First United, has a similar take.

"We want all churches in Gainesville to flourish because we want all people in Gainesville to come to know the love and grace of God," he said.

Heather Allen, an Asbury member with a background in the United Methodist Church, said, "I came to Asbury Chapel because I felt a calling on my heart to follow God into growing and learning in my Christian faith within this particular Global Methodist church in my hometown in this season of my life.

"We are a joyful congregation seeking a fresh expression of Methodism and rooted in the authority of Holy scripture, in the Wesleyan tradition."

Allen added, "I know to some this can be contrived as a weighty issue, where church denominational affiliation is concerned, but what it comes down to is the worship of God in the name of his only son, Jesus Christ and his living, breathing word, revealed in holy Scripture.

"We are all called and led to various places throughout our lives, aren't we?"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.