Valdosta church votes to leave Methodist denomination

Terry Richards, The Valdosta Daily Times, Ga.
·3 min read

Mar. 10—VALDOSTA — "It's time to shake hands and wish each other well."

So said Jimmy Towson, senior pastor of Park Avenue United Methodist Church, over his congregation's decision to leave the United Methodist Church denomination.

The decision was taken in a vote by the church membership Wednesday evening. Towson said 96% of those voting wanted to leave the larger church organization.

"While this was not an easy decision, it will allow the Park Avenue family to move past the denominational struggle and focus our attention on helping people move closer to Christ without the distractions that have plagued the UMC for the last several years," according to a statement from Park Avenue UMC.

While there was a combination of reasons for the split, Towson said the main problem was theological differences between the Valdosta church and the larger group.

"A more progressive movement and their approach to tenets of faith differ from what the local church believes," Towson said. "We don't agree with efforts to water down the truth of God's word."

The differences include views on biblical authority, the divinity of Jesus Christ and his virgin birth, he said.

Another point of concern, Towson said, was the UMC's decision to delay its general conference until 2024. According to the UMC's website, this was supposed to be the 2020 conference, which had already been postponed more than once due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The UMC normally holds its general conference every four years.

A longtime debate in the national church over LGBTQ inclusion was not a major point of debate in the Park Avenue church's decision, Towson said.

"We love everybody," he said.

The next step, Towson said, is for the South Georgia Methodist Conference to approve the disaffiliation at its June meeting.

"We will follow all guidelines outlined in our United Methodist Book of Discipline and our conference policy," said the Rev. Dr. Paula Lewis, south central district superintendent for the South Georgia Conference of the UMC.

Disaffiliation fees will have to be paid, Towson said.

The local congregation is considering joining a new, traditional Methodist denomination called the Global Methodist Church, while launches May 1. The national UMC website refers to those churches considering going to the GMC as "theological conservatives."

"As the South Central district superintendent, I have been a part of the conversations with Park Avenue UMC regarding their disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church. These have been very gracious conversations between us and the church has followed the process we have approved as the South Georgia Conference," Lewis said. "We are never happy to see local churches depart from our fellowship but we understand their desire to do so and pray for their future ministry."

Park Avenue UMC was founded in 1954, Towson said. The current official church membership is about 1,500, though the active membership is closer to 550, he said.

Terry Richards is senior reporter at The Valdosta Daily Times.