On Thanksgiving Day I had a chance to talk to my brother in law about the split occurring in his
no longer "United" Methodist Church. His church recently had a problem when they got a "celibate" lesbian minister. Needless to say, membership shrunk as did giving. The church ditched her, but they have not recovered their numbers. I told him about what happened in eastern North Carolina where 32% of churches voted to leave as documented below,
From WITN,
Over 200 congregations within the United Methodist Church in North Carolina were approved Saturday to leave the church over disagreements regarding LGBT clergy and marriage within the church.The North Carolina Conference of The United Methodist Church gathered for a special called annual conference at Methodist University in Fayetteville.The purpose of the conference was to receive requests and ratify disaffiliation for 249 churches.“The complete process requires a two-thirds approval vote of eligible church members in each church wishing to disaffiliate and then ratification by a majority of the members of Annual Conference,” the North Carolina conference said in a press release.The result of the conference vote was 957 yes to approve disaffiliation and 165 no.The North Carolina Conference is made up of churches from 56 counties in Eastern Carolina.According to the church, the 249 disaffiliating churches represent 32% of the congregations in the conference and around 22 percent of the membership.“Rev. Dr. Smith called for a ruling by Bishop Fairley as to whether the Conference could approve disaffiliation agreements for churches that were not based on Discipline Paragraph 2553, which specifically is about disagreement on matters of human sexuality. Bishop Fairley has 30 days after the special session to make a ruling, which will then go to the denomination’s Judicial Council. The Judicial Council is the church’s highest judicial body,” the conference said.The conference in its press release said that most of the local church votes were not unanimous.Ratified disaffiliations are effective Dec. 31, 2022, if the church completes all parts of the agreement by that date.For a look at the churches here in Eastern Carolina that voted to disaffiliate, click here.
My brother in law does not know what his church is going to do, and I suspect that he and most of his fellow congregants do not fully understand the theological problems and heresy involved when one goes over to the LGBT+ side and changes what the Bible calls sinful into a blessing.
The newly formed Global Methodist Church is all the more richer with these 249 churches. Let us pray that they keep the faith and thrive.
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To be clear, these congregations are not obligated to join the Global Methodist Church, and some will choose to be independent at least for the time being.
ReplyDeleteThere is one large congregation on the list which I pass frequently. It appears to be prospering, and will join the Global Methodist Church. All of the big "old Raleigh" Methodist churches have declared allegiance to the gay agenda.
Observers expect a similar exodus in central and western NC, and more from eastern NC next year. In total, about half of the UMC congregations may disaffiliate.
In my area the closer a church is to a major university, the more likely it will staying in the UMC.
DeleteIf congregations have questions about pursuing the disaffiliation process that is provided for in the Discipline, those of us at IRD/UMAction can address some of these matters (or connect with local speakers). E-mail us at: info@TheIRD.org
ReplyDeleteThanks Jeff
DeleteJeff Walton's suggestion is an excellent one, and your brother-in-law would be well-advised to get in touch with the IRD, Pewster. I read their website, JuicyEcumenism.com, for news about the Methodist breakup.
ReplyDelete