Posted on 11/25/2024 11:57:21 PM PST by Morgana
Months after the United Methodist Church’s largest overseas jurisdiction voted to cut ties with the denomination over their support of same-sex marriage, resulting in a loss of over a million members in a single day, UMC leadership has revealed their plans to retaliate against them: cut off all funding and take their property.
Earlier this year, The United Methodist Church in the Ivory Coast (EMUCI), which has been vocal about the denomination’s drift, held an extraordinary session on May 28th and pulled the trigger, casting their votes to disaffiliate “For reasons of conscience before God and His word, the supreme authority in matters of faith and life.”
Denominational leaders within the EMUCI have been unyielding in their resistance to the LGBTQ, declaring that their American counterparts “deviate from the Holy Scriptures” and prefer “to sacrifice its honor and integrity to honor the LGBTQ community.”
Unlike the UMC, the EMUCI has been growing steadily and has long been the denomination’s largest conference, along with being one of the most vocal against the direction they’ve been heading. This split was foreshadowed at the General Conference, when the President of the EMCUI, Bishop Benjamin Boni, told those gathered as a result of their move to embrace LGBTQ deviancy: “The United Methodist Church now rests on socio-cultural values that have consumed its doctrinal and disciplinary integrity.”
But the UMC has a plan. According to a news brief from the denomination’s website, “The United Methodist Council of Bishops is asking the denomination’s finance agency to suspend all funding for bishop compensation and related expenses in Côte d’Ivoire.”
Along with ceasing all funding, they’ve also requested all UMC property and assets in the country. With the bishops agreeing with the motion, the General Council on Finance and Administration Board must vote on it:
Council of Bishops President Tracy S. Malone told her colleagues that at the time, the bishops received indications that the conference was willing to follow the procedures under The United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline for becoming an autonomous denomination. Using that process, the conference would continue receiving denominational funding and not become fully independent until the end of 2028 at the earliest.
However, for months, the bishops did not hear any responses when they tried to reach out to conference leaders. Instead, the week before the November meeting, the Council of Bishops office received notice that the conference had other plans.
“The United Methodist Church is no longer registered in Côte d’Ivoire,” Malone, who also leads the Indiana Conference, told her colleagues. Instead, she said, the conference is registered as an independent entity.
“So in light of that, the executive committee took action, and in order for the funding to be suspended, we needed to bring a motion before the full council.”
In a discussion about it with the Christian Post, Institute on Religion & Democracy president Mark Tooley described the measures as “very punitive and vindictive” and suggested that they would have a hard time putting it into practice:
Are they talking about the church buildings or other denominational property? Local church buildings are held in trust not by the global denomination but by the local annual conference, which in this case is the Ivory Coast church, which has now become independent.
…They can successfully cut off funding from the United Methodist Church based in the U.S, (but) “I don’t know how successful they will be in seizing property based in Ivory Coast. I would guess Ivory Coast will not be very sympathetic to United Methodist officials in the U.S….This might intimidate some from trying to quit the UMC. But it also might motivate others to get out as quickly as they can.
And now we have the latest example of go woke go broke
I grew up Methodist , and it was never so leftist as it is now. My mother played piano and organ in our church for 47 years. She is spinning in her urn. God will judge them someday and i don’t think they will like the verdict .
Sad how some veer away from the Word.
Yep. I also grew up Methodist. Fundamental independent Baptist now.
:: UMC are a bunch of racist buggers. ::
bugger-ers
What do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s Witness with a United Methodist?
Someone who knocks on your door for no reason.
Just Wow. Cutting off funding sorta makes sense, since they’re not part of the UMC (although it shows how the funding was never about charity, but control). Trying to seize the property? If you’re going to go straight to Hell for your behavior, at least have a chance of winning?
Our church disaffiliated a little over a year ago. I shouldn’t be stunned, but still am, that the UMC is so utterly blind to its own apostasy and arrogance.
It’s so sad to see a once-godly church self destruct. Definitely a sign of the great falling away.
The UMC continues to crumble. There never was a majority for all the woke nonsense but by being totally obnoxious over gay and trans issues the minority drove the majority out. Sad really. The doctrinally orthodox should have put up a better fight but alas they were too peaceful to confront the devil.
We are still in the UMC. It’s funny how all the nonsense never makes it to the small congregations but people leave anyway. One minute, we are a “church family” and the next, people are headed for the exits.
... Local church buildings are held in trust not by the global denomination but by the local annual conference, which in this case is the Ivory Coast church, which has now become independent.
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The American congregations that want to leave and take their buildings with them are not so fortunate. This illustrates the dangers of centralized denominations whose top leadership is susceptible to capture by heretical wolves in sheep clothing.
The UMC is taking what to me is an immoral position, no matter how much lawyers may agree with it.
They basically see the local churches and conferences as children built with funds and support from the HQ of the UMC. And yes, in most cases the local church property is considered as “held in tust” for the conference or the UMC.
Then, when churches are trying to separate, they claim the property of the local church, because of the denomination’s role in the establishment of the local church, and that the property was “in trust” for the denomination.
Yet, from where did the UMC HQ get the funds it claims helped build the local churches? It got it from the local churches and their conferences, including local churches that now see the UMC as no longer honoring the RELIGIOUS TRUST held by the UMC when the local churches started.
Do you think maybe--just maybe-- the problem started here?
I’ve said it a million time before and I’ll say it again.
This is NOT my Grandmother’s Methodist church
I see the problem but then again who put her in office?
True.
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