UMC Supreme Court to decide how churches can leave the denomination

Michael Gryboskichurch editor-in-chief Tuesday, October 22, 2024

The United Methodist Church’s highest court will soon determine whether congregations can continue to leave the denomination in response to its progressive stance on LGBT issues.

From 2019 to 2023, approximately 7,500 congregations took advantage of a temporary provision in the UMC Book of Discipline to disaffiliate from the denomination in response to debates over sexual ethics.

At the Kentucky and Alabama-West Florida conferences, the United Methodist Judicial Council was asked whether another provision of the Book of Discipline could be used to leave the denomination.

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According to the Kentucky UMC Conference, the Judicial Council will consider this issue at its meeting in Los Angeles, California, October 23-26.

For decades, the UMC has debated whether to change its rules to allow blessings of same-sex unions, the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals and funding of LGBT advocacy groups.

Although attempts to change these rules were always rejected at General Conference, progressive leaders within the UMC often refused to follow or enforce the rules.

At a special session of General Conference held in February 2019, delegates voted to add paragraph 2553 to the Book of Discipline. The measure, set to expire at the end of last year, created a process for communities to withdraw from the UMC due to debate.

During this time, about 7,500 congregations left the denomination, and thousands joined the theologically conservative Global Methodist Church.

Earlier this year at General Conference, delegates removed language from the Book of Discipline that prohibited same-sex marriage, gay ordination and funding of LGBT political groups.

However, even after Section 2553 expired, churches continued to leave the denomination based on Book of Discipline Section 2549, which deals with church closures.

Under § 2549, a district superintendent may recommend that a local church be closed if it “no longer serves the purpose for which it was organized or chartered.”

The conference leadership may then declare the property closed and then “may retain, sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property of the closed local church in accordance with the guidelines of the annual conference, if any.”

The South Carolina UMC used Section 2549 to allow churches to leave the country during and after Section 2553 took effect, adopting a measure they called the “Local Church Discernment Process.”

South Carolina Conference spokesman Dan O’Mara explained to The Christian Post in an earlier interview that church exits used a process inspired by Section 2549, “which is typically used when a local church closes because it no longer serves the purpose for which it was organized.” “

“On June 6, 2023, members of the 2023 South Carolina Annual Conference approved the closure of 113 local churches whose members voted to secede,” O’Mara noted.

“These churches have completed the process of local church discernment, deciding that they can no longer function as the United Methodist Church because they firmly believe that the denomination does not consistently adhere to its stated doctrine on matters of human sexuality.”