United Methodist conferences cannot disaffiliate from denomination, church court rules

Liam Adams, Nashville Tennessean
·2 min read
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Annual conferences within the United Methodist Church cannot leave as part of an ongoing schism within the nation's largest mainline Protestant denomination, the church's highest court ruled Tuesday.

The decision from the Judicial Council is a major blow to more conservative conferences, or regional governing organizations, that sought to leave the UMC as a bloc. Currently, individual churches are allowed to "disaffiliate" from the UMC.

"The Judicial Council ruling may complicate this transition for some but it will not change the ultimate outcome," Mark Tooley, president of the Institute on Religion & Democracy, said in a statement.

The new Global Methodist Church: Inside the start of a new traditionalist Methodist denomination and its road ahead

Background: A new Methodist denomination announced its official launch. How did we get here?

Tooley's organization is one of several groups involved in the formation of the new traditionalist Methodist denomination, the Global Methodist Church.

The Global Methodist Church launched on May 1, splintering from the UMC. The new denomination upholds more conservative stances on sexuality and gender, a debate in the UMC driving much of the schism.

The Wesleyan Covenant Association — the main organization behind the Global Methodist Church's formation — met May 6-7 to recommend policies for the new denomination to implement. "We are disappointed by the decision; however, we knew that the Judicial Council might rule as they have," the Rev. Keith Boyette, the Wesleyan Covenant Association's outgoing president, said in a statement.

During the Global Legislative Assembly of the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA) on Friday, May 6, 2022, delegates vote on a series of resolutions and motions that will be integral to the formation of the Global Methodist Church, including the catechesis and other foundational documents and policies. The event is held at Kingsway Christian Church in Avon, Ind.

"Separation has serious ramifications not only for the departing annual conference but also entities and persons outside its boundaries because it is a dramatic departure from connectionalism — the 'vital web of interactive relationships,'" read the Judicial Council's majority opinion Tuesday.

The Judicial Council's decision only applies to the 51 U.S.-based conferences. The Romania-Bulgaria conference of the UMC has already voted to leave the denomination.

The Judicial Council's opinion noted two U.S.-based conferences, South Georgia and Northwest Texas, were preparing disaffiliation resolutions for their upcoming gatherings in June.

A conference disaffiliation would eliminate the requirement for individual churches in that conference to undergo the process.

"An annual conference may not adopt stopgap policies, pass resolutions, take a vote, or act unilaterally for the purpose of removing itself from the United Methodist connection" without UMC General Conference legislation, the nine-member Judicial Council said Tuesday.

The General Conference is when delegates from around the world convene to make policy decisions for the whole UMC. The next one is in 2024 when delegates are also expected to vote on a plan to officially split the denomination.

A delegate asks a clarifying question Friday, May 6, 2022, before a vote on a new president during the Global Legislative Assembly of the Wesleyan Covenant Association held at Kingsway Christian Church in Avon, Ind.
A delegate asks a clarifying question Friday, May 6, 2022, before a vote on a new president during the Global Legislative Assembly of the Wesleyan Covenant Association held at Kingsway Christian Church in Avon, Ind.

United Methodist leaders decided in March to postpone the General Conference — originally scheduled for this August — until 2024, leading Global Methodist Church leaders to preemptively launch on May 1 for churches that have already disaffiliated.

The Judicial Council ruling Tuesday means that for the next two years, there will be a flow of individual churches leaving the UMC for the Global Methodist Church.

Many individual congregations have recently voted to leave the UMC, but those disaffiliations aren't official until delegates approve resolutions at annual conferences this summer.

Liam Adams covers religion for The Tennessean. Reach him at ladams@tennessean.com or on Twitter @liamsadams.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: UMC court rules against conferences leaving denomination