Some of our church members, as well as people who may just be curious about what they hear in the news, are looking to know more about what is happening the The United Methodist Church as they hear about “disaffiliations.” Here is a summary of information, originally shared in a congregational meeting in April, 2023 but updated this August, about what is going on.
First, A Little Background
Schism and/or separation is nothing new to the Methodist movement. While John Wesley himself had not intended to start a new church, but was just leading a renewal movement within the Church of England in which he was raised and ordained, after the American Revolution Wesley granted that Methodists in the new country of the United States could organize themselves into a new church. The Methodist Episcopal Church began in Maryland at the Christmas Conference of 1785. The first “General” Conference of the new church was in 1792, and the first schism happened that year as the Republican Methodist Church broke apart from the rest due to the Methodist Episcopal Church’s use of “bishops” and the lack of voting rights for laity. Over the centuries since, different groups have splinted apart from the Methodists.
The most significant historical division of the Methodist Church occurred in in the mid 1800s between the north and south, between progressive and conservative. The 1844 General Conference, led by northern Methodists, passed anti-slavery resolutions that southern Methodists bristled at. At that conference, due to the division related to the issue of slavery, a committee was formed to develop a Plan of Separation to bring back to the 1848 General Conference.
Southern Conferences proceeded to use the provisions of the Plan of Separation almost immediately, and held their first General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (MECS) in 1846, separating away. However, the 1848 General Conference of The Methodist Episcopal Church rejected the Plan of Separation, and declared the division illegal. Ultimately it took the Supreme Court of the United States, in Smith v. Swormstedt in 1853, to settle the conflict and declare the split legal.
The two strands of the Methodist Episcopal Church, plus the Protestant Methodist Church (which had separated in 1828 over the issue of congregational governance), came back together in 1938, forming The Methodist Church. The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church (a denomination that had its roots in Methodism but had separated out as early as 1800) came together to form The United Methodist Church in 1968.
The Current Situation
As American Methodists shifted in their understandings of LGBTQ+ rights (e.g. a clear majority of elected American Methodists and General Conference delegates now approve removing existing restrictive language from The Discipline and/or giving American Methodists the same right to adjust the Discipline to fit their cultural context that other countries have), the long-simmering theological conflict(s) between American progressives/liberals, moderates/centrists, and traditionalists/conservatives reached a point of seeming incompatibility.
2016 General Conference delegated a specific group consisting of progressives, moderates, and traditionalists to create a plan for managing the current situation, and they created two potential plans to be presented to the 2019 General Conference. However, these plans were rejected at the 2019 session by a slim majority in favor of a third alternative “Traditional Plan” submitted by an outside conservative caucus. Part of that majority was from Central Conference (e.g. outside of America) leadership, many of whom have renounced their support of the plan in the time since.
As a result, national elections of delegates to the scheduled (but later postponed) 2020 General Conference skewed left to such a degree that the conservative caucus (e.g. “Wesleyan Covenant Association”) publicly accelerated its decades-long plan of separation. Using both the existing ¶2553 added to The Book of Discipline by General Conference 2019 (see below) and/or the yet-unapproved plan/procedures submitted to the 2020 General Conference (now meeting in 2024), a not-insignificant number of conservative churches have separated, or are separating, either to join together in The Global Methodist Church or, increasingly, to be independent.
What is Happening?
First, there has been a lot of misinformation shared about disaffiliation in some of our United Methodist Churches, particularly within the South Central and Southeastern Jurisdictions. Some of this misinformation has been unethically led and stoked by clergy (movement for disaffiliation is required to be initiated and led by the laity), including the Rev. Rob Renfroe, who posted a series of biased videos full of false accusations to scare congregations into calling for and voting for disaffiliation. The Rev. Adam Hamilton replied to these videos with a series of his own, hoping to dispel some of the false accusations and misconstrued statements.
There is no requirement that we hold a vote, one way or another. The only churches that should be calling for a vote are those with laity expressing a strong desire for disaffiliation. There is no requirement that clergy be sharing information about how a church can disaffiliate, or calling for a vote on such.
The General Conference scheduled for 2020 will be held April 23 – May 3, 2024. In March, 2023, The Judicial Council announced that this is the postponed General Conference for the 2020-2024 quadrennium (and delegates previously elected still stand). To fulfill the mandates of the Book of Discipline, which stipulate a regular session must be held once every four years, another General Conference for the 2024-2028 quadrennium must then be held between the rescheduled 2020 session and the 2028-2032 session anticipated in 2028. So, we will see another conference soon, likely in 2026 or maybe 2027. Some predict that as 2024 focuses on the current schism, 2026/2027 will help coordinate/establish new direction for The United Methodist Church moving forward from it.
In terms of actual disaffiliations, the Lewis Center for Leadership, annually publishes an update of disaffiliation. The most recent of which is from June, 2023, and can be found here.
Prognostications/Predictions on what may occur next
The loss of 20% of our UM churches (let alone 25-30%) will radically affect the ability of the church to maintain global outreach and organizational structure. Downsizing has already occurred at most of our general agencies, and will continue. Financial support of central (e.g. international) conferences that remain connected will also likely decrease. Since the 2019 General Conference, the reality and impact of disaffiliation on central conferences has contributed to some such conferences, especially within Africa, to rescind their support of the separation movement, but too late.
The Desert Southwest Conference, and the great majority of its churches, will remain United Methodist. While there have been rumors of two churches in the conference discussing disaffiliation, no churches have made official moves to disaffiliate. (Note that our conference is strategically choosing not to broadcast such information.) Churches wishing to be independent or join the GMC will be allowed to do so under the provisions of ¶2553 through the end of 2023 under Annual Conference Trustees policies and approval. Toward this, a disaffiliating church in the Desert Southwest Conference must:
- be current with paid apportionments for the 12 months leading up to the date of disaffiliation, plus render to the DSC the balance of another 12 months;
- contribute its portion of unfunded pension obligations to the DSC;
- reimburse the DSC any payments made for or toward obligations of the church within the five-year period preceding disaffiliation (e.g. if they received funds for equitable compensation or building needs);
- render to the Desert Southwest Conference an amount equal to 50% of the church’s total real property, including parsonage;
- receive approval of 66.7% of the church membership after four all-church meetings;
- receive approval at a special called session of the Desert Southwest Conference.
Many churches will experience tension and perhaps congregational turmoil as these actions occur. Some of our clergy are struggling with the anxiety of these changes, as well, unsure how to share information or educate their membership. This is a difficult and challenging time for everyone.
What all this means for St. Paul’s United Methodist Church
Trying to predict all of the potential implications of this schism on St. Paul’s is impossible, but I believe the following are fairly accurate:
- There is either no, or not enough substantial, desire within our church membership to discuss disaffiliation, let alone bring it to a vote.
- It is the will of the majority of St. Paul’s to remain a congregation of The United Methodist Church. We will thus remain connected to other UM Churches through the Desert Southwest Conference and the Western Jurisdiction (or subsequent regional boundaries).
- St. Paul’s will retain our desire to be inclusive in our welcome and ministry to all people, including LGBTQ+ persons. Our Church Council is already discussing how to publicly articulate our intention of inclusivity. While an expanded statement is still in progress, the following statements have been adopted by our Council for use in our media and church publications:
St. Paul’s welcomes and affirms all people to participate fully in the life of our church.
Short form of welcome/inclusivity statement
St. Paul’s United Methodist Church welcomes and affirms all people to participate fully in the life of our church with no judgments of your history or place in life. Wherever you are in your faith journey, we have a place for you to connect with others and God’s unconditional love.
Basic Welcome/Inclusivity statement
- St. Paul’s will continue to seek to make an impact globally through Methodist missions, including but not limited to the United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR) and our congregation’s long-standing commitment to the John Dean Township / Gretta Moffat School.