United Methodist Church conference challenges Jefferson Twp. church's change of religious denomination

Terrie Morgan-Besecker, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·3 min read
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Apr. 8—The Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church filed a lawsuit against five former members of the Cortez United Methodist Church, alleging they improperly transformed the parish into a community church.

The suit, filed in Lackawanna County Court, claims Ken Witkowski, Daniel Hulse Jr., Alicia Clarke Witkowski, Cathy Strickbein and Abbigale Clarke violated UMC church bylaws when they purported to disaffiliate the Jefferson Twp. church from the United Methodist denomination and renamed it the Cortez Community Church.

Kimberly Borland, attorney for the conference, recently filed a court motion asking a judge to eject the newly formed church and return the building, located at 967 Cortez Road, and all assets to the conference. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 28 before Lackawanna County Judge Julia Munley.

According to the suit, the defendants held various leadership roles in the Cortez United Methodist Church. On Feb. 9, they changed church signs to reflect the new name and religious identity. Ten days later, they took action to seize bank accounts.

After the conference learned of the actions, Joseph Layman Jr., chancellor for the conference, wrote to the defendants on Feb. 23 to advise them it planned to change the locks, freeze assets and take other action to protect the property. Layman asked the defendants to cooperate, but they refused to do so, the suit says.

The church, under its new name and religious affiliation, continues to occupy the building and hold services.

It's unclear what prompted the members to seek to disaffiliate from the UMC. In a Feb. 28 letter to congregants, the new church leadership noted there were several discussions about separating from the UMC before the final decision was made. The letter, which is attached to the conference's lawsuit, does not detail reasons for the decision.

Attempts to reach Hulse, identified in the letter as pastor for the Cortez Community Church, and other defendants for comment were unsuccessful.

The suit alleges the defendants' actions violate the UMC bylaws, known as the "Book of Discipline," which say property owned by United Methodist Churches is held in trust "for the benefit of the entire United Methodist Church" denomination.

In an interview, Layman said individual churches have the right to seek to disaffiliate from the UMC, but they must follow the process outlined in the Book of Discipline. The Cortez church began that process but did not complete it, he said.

"You remain a United Methodist Church until the conference says you are not a United Methodist Church," Layman said. "The fact they changed the name and claim to be the Cortez Community Church has no impact. We still consider it to be the Cortez United Methodist Church."

Layman said the situation is unfortunate, but the conference is committed to returning the church to the UMC.

"There are very important principles we have to exercise to protect the denomination," he said. "We will exercise our right to seek removal from the premises and return it to the United Methodist worship."

Contact the writer:

tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9137;

@tmbeseckerTT on Twitter.