Methodist churches making choices

Jan. 9—Part 2 of 2:

Methodist Church moves to separate

Members of the United Methodist Church have to make major decisions and contemplate their spiritual beliefs. What would John Wesley do? The Wesley movement into Methodism had its on conflicts. His group met weekly and methodically set about living a holy life. They preferred to receive communion every week, abstain from most forms of amusement, luxury and commonly visit the sick and the poor. The fellowship was stigmatized as "Methodist" by their fellow classmates because of the way they used "rule" and "method" to determine their religious convictions. John, who was the leader of the club, took the attempted mockery and turned it into a title of honor.

Recently, the Judicial Council ruled to uphold the Book of Discipline ban on openly gay ministers from serving in the denomination. The decision failed to bring together both sides of the issue. The Council of Bishops call for a special General Conference to meet in 2019. The special General Conference did not end the rancor.

In early 2020, a diverse group of church leaders unveiled a proposal for amicable separation that would have theological conservatives who support the LGBTQ restrictions leaving with church property and funds to start their own denomination. But COVID-caused delays of the General Conference and kept the plan from being considered.

This has left many traditionalist churches turning to Paragraph 2553 to exit. The provision has a number of requirements including at least a two-thirds vote for disaffiliation by the congregation and majority approval by its annual conference — a regional body with voting members from multiple congregations.

An exiting church also must pay a fair share of its annual conference's pension liability as well as two years of apportionments — shares of church giving that support ministry beyond the local church. Paragraph 2553 also allows for conferences to add requirements.

A United Methodist News review found that 2,003 churches in the U.S. have cleared the necessary hurdles under church law to leave the denomination with property. That translates to about 6.6 percent of U.S. congregations withdrawing since 2019 when the church's disaffiliation provision took effect.

Many of the congregations that have left are small, but the denomination also has seen the departure of some megachurches. The withdrawals still leave more than 28,500 United Methodist congregations in the U.S. The vast majority of congregations are sticking with the United Methodist Church.

A potential difference between the present division within Methodism and these other divisions in church history is that the public has a chance to learn from the way ancestors in the faith responded to disagreement and division.

"At an absolute minimum, we can agree not to kill one another," writes Dr. Jason Vickers, Professor of Theology at Asbury Theological Seminary. He serves on the Editorial Board for Firebrand.

Dr. Vickers wrote that on Monday, March 1, 2021, the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA) created a bit of a stir on social media when it announced the name and symbol of a new church. Even more controversial was a declaration that, one way or the other, the Global Methodist Church is happening.

The new denomination will launch as a result of finalizing the protocol for separation. However, in their strongest statement to date, the leaders of the WCA made clear that, even if centrists and progressives in the present United Methodist Church fail to honor the protocol, the Global Methodist Church will soon become a reality.

Most conferences sought to do what they could to accommodate church exits. By late summer 2022, 17 annual conferences have held special sessions to vote on church departures and more had scheduled special sessions in 2023. So far, most have approved all the disaffiliations on the agenda.

The one exception was the Arkansas Conference, where a majority of conference voters approved 35 churches for disaffiliation but blocked three others. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that the pastor, lay leaders and many of the members of one denied congregation — Cabot United Methodist Church — have since decided to walk away and start a new church.

The number of disaffiliations has varied greatly by region, with conferences in the southern U.S., seeing the most church departures. Perhaps not surprising in a denomination whose history so closely aligns with that of the United States, the disaffiliation map is similar to the red-and-blue maps on Election Day — with the more conservative red areas seeing more church disaffiliations compared to the more progressive blue areas.

The Texas Conference held a vote during the Dec. 3 special session in Houston. Members of the conference approved the disaffiliation of 294 of the conference's 598 churches. The Northwest Texas Conference, also voted on the same day, ratified the highest percentage of disaffiliations — 74 percent, or 145 of its 196 churches. Only 51 congregations remain and some are in discernment to potentially leave later. Campus ministries in the conference, which covers the Texas Panhandle including Texas Tech University, also have disaffiliated.

Not all departing churches are opting to go with the Global Methodist Church. Some are going independent or joining another denomination in the Methodist movement. Huntsville's First United Methodist Church and Wesley Memorial Methodist Church voted to remain with the United Methodist Church. As for the disaffiliations, it's not yet known how much membership loss they represent.

That's in part because some members of exiting congregations are opting to remain United Methodist by transferring to other churches or, in some cases, planting new United Methodist faith communities.

Scott Atnip, a member of the Texas Annual Conference General Conference delegation and former West District Lay Leader at Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church of Huntsville, is someone who is staying United Methodist. Atnip is also National Executive Director of the United Methodist Action Reach-Out Mission by Youth and Congregational Outreach Director for Texas Impact.

"I am excited about the future of the denomination. I had a chance to attend the recent Jurisdictional Conference in Houston as a delegate of the Texas Annual Conference of the UMC, and many of us were processing our grief with friends and churches leaving the denomination. But I left that historic conference with such incredible hope for the future." said Atnip.

The conference Atnip attended Dec. 3, 2022, elected this jurisdiction's first African American woman Bishop and first Native American Bishop.

"I think for the first time in UMC history, all three Bishops were elected on the first ballot. Many of us left with a hope for the future of a denomination that more closely reflects the full scope of the kingdom of God — a diverse and inclusive denomination focused on loving God and all of God's creation while continuing our historic work in missions and work to transform our communities."

Atnip believes the mission of the United Methodist Church is to "make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world, and I am confident that local UMCs and UMCs around the world will continue and expand work to transform our local communities."

"One of the things I have loved about the UMC is the political and theological diversity," said Atnip.

"You have to love a church that claims both President George W. Bush and Secretary Hillary Clinton, as active members. I plan to stay with the UMC and will work to ensure that it continues to stay a big tent church where all are welcome. And, we do need to work to ensure that ALL are welcome."

Senior Pastor Rev. Kenneth Levingston of Jones Memorial Methodist Church in Houston pastored St. Paul Methodist Church of Huntsville from 1983 until 1994.

"My family loves this community," said Levingston. "The Lord blessed St. Paul with numerous ministries and a thriving membership."

Following the Dec. 3 conference meeting, Jones Memorial and St. Paul voted to leave the United Methodist Church and join the Global Methodist Church.

"This disassociation was due to differences in beliefs," said Levingston. "Are we accountable to the bishops or the scripture? The Rules have not changed. The Book of Discipline continues to be the authority and guide for accountability. Under the Global Methodist Church, Bishops are not appointed for life but a term of service."

When Levingston learned that St. Paul had voted to disaffiliate and their pastor was going to be reassigned, he ask to return to St. Paul.

There are four other Huntsville area Methodist churches, including Grace, Pleasant Grove, Warren Chapel and Farris Chapel in Richards, that have disaffiliated to join Global Methodist Church.

"I have the skill set to help churches find themselves. If you conduct good ministry, people will follow," Levingston said.

Levingston will rotate coverage of St. Paul with other Associate Pastors from Jones Memorial, who have trained under Rev. Levingston, and will preach his return sermon on Sunday, Jan. 8.

Finally, Dr. Vickers writes when it comes to division in the church, "there is no going back. We simply cannot undo history. Chalcedon happened. The Great Schism happened. The Reformation happened. Methodism happened. And now, the Global Methodist Church is happening.

All of these divisions have damaged and continue to damage the church's witness. Division and disunity are not to be celebrated. Conservative United Methodists should not be doing victory laps. Centrist and progressive United Methodists should not be demonizing those who, for conscience's sake, will soon become members of the Global Methodist Church."

"We should all be repenting for the damage that this division, like so many other divisions before it, will do to the collective witness of the church catholic," Dr. Vickers wrote. "Having said this, the world is no stranger to division and disunity. On the contrary, we are up to our eyeballs in division.

"Democrats and Republicans. Sunnis and Shias. Nationalists and globalists. Capitalists and socialists. And on and on. What the world hasn't seen is a group of people who disagree so strongly with one another that political separation is a mutually acknowledged necessity and yet go on loving and honoring one another in the name of a higher good. In the case of the church, that higher good is the Gospel of Jesus Christ," wrote Dr. Vickers.