My mom’s congregation, and another Southern California congregation that I know of, have to come up with half the value of the property to buy out the United Methodist left wing, like a divorce, splitting the assets. It’s in the millions of dollars that they have to come up with, and they can’t do it. I suggested they pool their resources with other nearby churches who are leaving and focus on buying out one of those properties.
That is a good idea, the sharing resources.
If I was UMC, affiliated, or not, I would have a problem with the Bishops moving pastors around willy-nilly with no input from congregations.