Weekend vote ends mass exodus of MS Methodist churches for 2023. See UMC churches leaving
There were 142 more of Mississippi's United Methodist Churches that were ratified to disaffiliate on Saturday in Jackson.
Mississippi United Methodist Conference's eligible voters agreed to ratify the disaffiliations of the churches from across the state in eight separate ballots. That allows them to move on to any other denomination or Methodist offshoot. Most, however, have suggested they will affiliate with upstart Global Methodist Church. The round of disaffiliation becomes official on Dec. 31.
The conference took place at Anderson United Methodist Church in Jackson.
Bishop Sharma Lewis said after the ratification vote that she hopes there is a time of closure for the conference.
She did not make any other comments about the disaffiliation and the conference moved into a regular religious service.
This year is not the first time churches have chosen to leave the denomination. It is just the largest group to do so as a combined 331 of the 856 (38.7%) fully connected members have been allowed to disaffiliate in 2023. In June, 189 were ratified for disaffiliation in a similar conference held in Tupelo.
There, Lewis was much more outspoken about the process.
"I know this disaffiliation process has been tough. You aren't being honest if you say that isn't the case," Lewis said in Tupelo. "I wanted after we voted to have a service of blessing. ... It is not blessing them to leave. I am blessing to go and be what God has called them to be. ... I want all of y'all to stay. But I have to have the faith that clergy, laity and faith communities took the time to pray about their next steps. Also, if we are honest, it has been tense. I wanted this to be a time and a space we could put all of that down."
Leading up to this year, a total of 55 churches disaffiliated from the conference with seven leaving in 2019, 11 in 2020, 23 in 2021 and 14 in 2022.
This is the latest in the nationwide split of the church, which has been described by some as the largest denominational schism in the last 50 years.
The issues for the United Methodist Church, in general, center around, but are not limited to, a difference in opinion about whether someone who identifies as LGBTQ should be ordained in churches. Other denominations, including the Episcopal church, have faced similar challenges in recent years. Amid issues surrounding human sexuality, hundreds of Episcopal churches splintered off nationally to move to the new, more conservative Anglican Church in North America, though no Mississippi parishes left the Episcopal fold.
Leaving the church is a two-step process in the UMC. First, a church must vote to disaffiliate from the Mississippi Conference. If two-thirds of the church members present for a vote then vote to leave, the church is then disaffiliated. But the Mississippi Conference must still ratify that church's departure.
In this round of voting, Mississippi churches had until the end of October to have a church vote.
In this latest round, Mississippi's largest Methodist church, Jackson's Christ United Methodist Church, voted to part ways with the UMC, and that was upheld on Saturday.
It was reported to its members by email by Christ United Methodist Church that more than 86% voted to disaffiliate while a little more than 13% voted to remain United Methodist.
United Methodist churches disaffiliating
Here is a list of all 142 churches within the Mississippi United Methodist conference, which were ratified for disaffiliation from the conference on Saturday.
BALLOT 1
Brookhaven District
Pleasant Valley
Jackson St UMC
Hawkins Chapel
Crystal Springs
Hazlehurst UMC
Hopewell
Thirkield
St Paul
East Jackson District
Brandon
Canton FUMC
Singleton
Carthage
D'Lo
Bethany
Sherman Hill
Brandon Trinity
Holly Bush
Christ UMC
BALLOT 2
East Jackson District (cont.)
Lodebar
Lone Pine
Madden
Pearl
McLauren Heights
Mountain Ridge
Richland
St James
Taylorsville
Thornton
Johnson Chapel
Greenwood District
Carrollton
Merigold
Shipman Chapel
Ebenezer (Holmes)
Greenville First
Greenville Trinity
Bethel
BALLOT 3
Greenwood District (cont.)
Leland
Bethlehem
Lexington FUMC
Moorhead
Sunflower
Rosedale
Winona Moore Memorial
Hattiesburg District
Ellisville
Laurel First
Franklin
Gitano
West Laurel
Moselle
Mt Zion
Fairfield
Leona
Purvis
Tallowah
BALLOT 4
Hattiesburg District (cont.)
Seminary
Oakdale
Bethel Collins
Meridian District
Hopewell
Mt Pleasant
St Mark Dekalb
Liberty
New Hope
Lauderdale
Lynville
Mellen
Marion
Mars Hill
College Park
Pilgrim Hill
Henry's Chapel
Oak Grove
McGowan Chapel
BALLOT 5
Meridian District (cont.)
Pleasant Hill
Portersville
New Bethlehem
Hopewell: Rose Hill
Sageville
Binnsville
Blues Chapel
New Beginning
Spring Hill
New St. Matthew's
New Albany District
Harris Chapel
Liberty Ashland
Indian Springs
Hickory Flat
Winborn
Iuka
Pleasant Hill Iuka
Burnsville
BALLOT 6
New Albany District (cont.)
Harmony
Patrick
Jumpertown
Tula
Taylor
Potts Camp
Potts Camp Bethlehem
Cornersville
Salem (Etta)
Christ Ripley
Jacob Chapel
New Hope
Seashore District
Caswell Springs
Mt Pleasant Vancleave
St Paul Ocean Springs
Rosedale
Wiggins
H A Brown
BALLOT 7
Senatobia District
Charleston
Tippo
Coffeeville
Crenshaw
Greenleaf
Hinds Chapel
Lyon
Bethel
Shiloh
Southaven First
Starkville District
New Hope
Bellfountaine
Brooksville
Crawford
Shaeffers Chapel
Eupora
Adaton
BALLOT 8
Starkville District (cont.)
Maben
Cooksville
Macon
Liberty Hill
Palestine UMC Cedar Bluff
Tupelo District
Strong
Algoma
Palestine
Lewis Memorial
Friendship
Harden's Chapel
Pleasant Valley
Mantachie
Ozark
Fairview
Cornerstone
West Jackson District
Yazoo City-St Johns
Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter @GreenOkra1.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Which MS Methodist churches are leaving UMC
