No, *you* are wrong. I am the Financial Secretary of our local Methodist church, and I know the ins and outs of the legal and financial relationships between the local church and the district and national hierarchy. These relationships bear no similarity to the rigid centralization of the Roman Catholic church. Our congregation owns its buildings and hires its pastor. There are some rules and many guidelines for our financial operations, but we make all of the important decisions about the day-to-day “business” of the church. We do send our full apportionment (”tax”) to the district and national organizations, but several area UMC congregations do not, and there seems to be no penalty for not doing so.
Your buildings are held in trust for the Bishop and your pastor is apointed by the Bishop. Some local Conferences may put on the appearance of a more gentle Ecclesiastical authority.
Do not be misled. When the chips are down the local congregation has no authority, not even over its own budget.
I suggest you read the Book of Discipline on these issues.