Posted on 10/22/2024 8:10:14 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
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, around 7,500 congregations used a temporary provision in the UMC Book of Discipline to disaffiliate from the denomination in response to its debate over sexual ethics.
The United Methodist Judicial Council has been asked by the Kentucky and Alabama-West Florida conferences about whether another provision in the Book of Discipline can be used to exit the denomination.
According to the UMC Kentucky Conference, the Judicial Council will consider the matter at their meeting in Los Angeles, California, from Oct. 23-26.
For decades, the UMC debated whether to change its rules to allow for the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups.
Although efforts to change these rules at the General Conference were always voted down, progressive leaders within the UMC oftentimes refused to follow or enforce the regulations.
At a special session of the General Conference held in February 2019, delegates voted to add Paragraph 2553 to the Book of Discipline. The measure, slated to expire at the end of last year, created a process for congregations to leave the UMC over the debate.
Approximately 7,500 congregations disaffiliated from the denomination during that time, with thousands joining the theologically conservative Global Methodist Church.
Earlier this year, at General Conference, delegates removed the language from the Book of Discipline prohibiting gay marriage, gay ordination, and the funding of LGBT political groups.
Even after Paragraph 2553 expired, however, churches have continued to leave the denomination through Paragraph 2549 of the Book of Discipline, which is in regards to closing down churches.
According to Paragraph 2549, a district superintendent can recommend that a local church be closed if it “no longer serves the purpose for which it was organized or incorporated.”
From there, conference leadership can declare the property closed and then “may retain, sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property of a closed local church in accordance with the direction of the annual conference, if any.”
The UMC South Carolina Conference used Paragraph 2549 to allow churches to leave during and after Paragraph 2553 was in effect, having adopted a measure they called “Local Church Discernment Process.”
South Carolina Conference spokesperson Dan O’Mara explained to The Christian Post in an earlier interview that disaffiliating churches used the Paragraph 2549-inspired process “which is typically employed when a local church is closed 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 had voted to separate,” O’Mara noted.
“These churches completed the Local Church Discernment Process, having determined that they could no longer function as a United Methodist church because they firmly believe that the denomination has not consistently upheld its stated doctrine on issues of human sexuality.”
The purpose of leftist infiltration of churches is to destroy them.
Yes, otherwise why not leave to start a LGBTQ++ “church?”
The essential idea of the leaders of the UMC and a majority of their general conference delegates is the UMC owns everything and the local congregations own nothing. The idea comes from the UMC national bodies having owned and donated land and funding support for the building of new congregations.
That is true but it ignores two things. First it ignores the extent of local congregations’ local fundaising for their building funds. Second it ignores that the national bodies got their money from funds contributed by the local congregations.
Lastly, as far as some congrgations wanting to leave the UMC and keeping their local church buildings, the UMC leadership ignores the fact that those congregations were among the congregations from which the national bodies had obtained their funds. The UMC leadership wants to pretend that UMC national respources only came from the Liberal congrgations that want to stay in the UMC, and the other congregations must leave with nothing.
The essential idea of the leaders of the UMC and a majority of their general conference delegates is the UMC owns everything and the local congregations own nothing. The idea comes from the UMC national bodies having owned and donated land and funding support for the building of new congregations.
That is true but it ignores two things. First it ignores the extent of local congregations’ local fundaising for their building funds. Second it ignores that the national bodies got their money from funds contributed by the local congregations.
Lastly, as far as some congrgations wanting to leave the UMC and keeping their local church buildings, the UMC leadership ignores the fact that those congregations were among the congregations from which the national bodies had obtained their funds. The UMC leadership wants to pretend that UMC national respources only came from the Liberal congrgations that want to stay in the UMC, and the other congregations must leave with nothing.
A very simple test would be whether or not over the years a local congregation gave, to the national bodies, a total sum equal to or greater than the total sum the national bodies made in building the local congegation. I doubt the UMC national bodies contgributed more to the local congregation than they got over the years from the local congregation.
This ia moral argument, realizing that the congregations property is said to be held in trust by the local congregation for the benefit of the denomination. It is THAT trust agreement the UMC is saying departing churches must honor and leave the demonination without their property. I think the UMC argument is a legal argument but not a morally correct one. Taking their property with them a departing congregation is not taking more than they contributed to the denomination over the years.
The purpose of leftist infiltration of churches is to destroy them.
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The purpose of Satan’s infiltration of churches is to destroy them.
Prophecy unfolding before our eyes. Up next, Christian persecution on a huge scale, and our own government will be leading the charge, not just the Democrats.
One by one being picked off. I recently left my church when the 30 year Pastor retired, turned it over to his son in law, and he immediately began reorganizing leadership, “ ordaining” woman as Pastors. Many of us left.
That church is now withering, as should be. The good Lord has a way of dealing with Churches that stray from his Word.
Wuli raises a Mammoth point.
The essential idea of the leaders of the UMC and a majority of their general conference delegates is the UMC owns everything
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Sorry, they fail to realize God own’s his Church. Not any man. Those falling away from his word are being dealt with in a way that only God can achieve. The list of divided Churches is getting longer, Anglican, Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist, etc….into the trash bin of Biblical history.
“Sorry, they fail to realize God own’s his Church.”
In a theological sense they would not argue with that. But the matter is temporal, organizational and instutitional, not theological.
The UMC will wither and die - Global Methodists will continue the Methodist tradition, sans the insanity that the homosexuals have forced on the UMC.
The real question is the property. If a congregation leaves, I think it should be able to keep the building. That was this was about with the Episcopal split.
It is worth remembering that not only did many of the most dynamic congregations leave the UMC but other congregations that did not get a vote had many of their most active members pull out and start a new congregation as happened with the Auburn, Alabama UMC. The original Auburn congregation is just a shell of its former self. My nearby congregation voted 190 to five for disaffiliation.
The UMC lost most of its West African membership as whole conferences pulled out.
In other words, they can’t leave.
They still ordain women, so they'll be in the same leftist position in a few short years.
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