Advertisement

newsFaith

Why are some churches leaving — and others staying with — the United Methodist Church?

While this time of division is difficult, many Methodists view the future with optimism.

Historic decisions continue to be made from local to national levels within the United Methodist Church, a denomination facing division as some churches vote to disaffiliate over theological and operational differences largely related to the inclusion of LGBTQ people.

In the two conferences that include the Dallas-Fort Worth area, a combined 89 congregations have voted in favor of leaving, causing heartbreak within the community. However, some Methodist congregations have viewed the process as a decision to stay and look forward to the denomination’s next chapter.

“Even though there’s grief there, we’re still engaging with one another,” said the Rev. Andy Lewis of the North Texas Conference.

Advertisement

The highest lawmaking body of the UMC — a gathering of delegates called the General Conference — meets every four years. At the 2019 General Conference, by a slim majority, the conference affirmed a conservative stance against the ordination of openly gay ministers and the marriage of same-sex couples.

Breaking News

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.

Or with:

“However, 2019 was different,” said Ted Campbell, a professor at Southern Methodist University’s Perkins School of Theology. “The vote was very, very close.”

The next General Conference has been highly anticipated because of the division, but it has been postponed multiple times because of the pandemic and won’t take place until 2024.

Advertisement

Until then, local churches have the option to discern disaffiliation from the UMC as stipulated under a new provision that was approved during the 2019 General Conference. Under this provision, which expires at the end of 2023, local churches may disaffiliate “for reasons of conscience” related to LGBTQ rights in the denomination and retain their properties while also paying two years of apportionments.

In order to leave, a two-thirds majority of professing members must vote for it and the vote must be approved by the annual conference or regional governing body.

Advertisement

Campbell said conservative members and congregations now are seeing “the writing on the wall” and are inclined to leave the UMC. Other conservative circles have announced their frustration over what they say is a lack of enforcing the stance on LGBTQ pastors and marriages.

William Lawrence, professor emeritus of Perkins School of Theology, noted in the denomination’s structure, annual conferences or regional governing bodies have the authority to make their own decisions even if they are against a decision by the General Conference.

He said some churches have since used the division over LGBTQ rights as a “Trojan horse” to vote their way out of the United Methodist Church with their properties. Other churches have said their choice to disaffiliate is not over LGBTQ rights but rather over financial and doctrinal independence from the denomination.

“The issue that has arisen more recently has been broader questions about theology, and local church control and official church doctrine, and quite frankly power,” he said.

Campbell said it’s a difficult period in the denomination’s history as families, friends and communities have started parting ways.

“As a historian, It’s absolutely fascinating to watch because I’ve told the story to my students about the various divisions and reunions in our history,” he said. “But up close and personal it really hurts.”

Local churches

Recently, White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake voted to go through with the disaffiliation process. St. Andrew United Methodist, a megachurch in Plano, also announced its intentions to disaffiliate following a decision from its executive committee in October.

Advertisement

Stan Copeland, senior pastor at Lovers Lane United Methodist Church based in Preston Hollow, said his congregation, which he described as a diverse, originally was not going to vote on disaffiliation. But eventually he decided the church would vote to give every member a voice and to show support for the LGBTQ community within the congregation.

The vote was Nov. 6, and 90% of those who voted decided against disaffiliation, which Copeland called an affirming decision for LGBTQ congregants.

“We’re just fine being United Methodist,” he said. “In fact, we’re excited about it. We’re excited about our community, we are excited about our future, we’re excited about where we’re going.”

Advertisement

Copeland said while a number of members throughout the greater UMC who favor disaffiliation say it’s not about LGBTQ rights, disaffiliation cannot be separated from the topic.

“The others can say it’s about this, that or the other because it’s embarrassing to say that you’re starting a new denomination based on the exclusion of a group of people,” he said.

Dallas-Fort Worth conferences

The Central Texas Conference, with 185 congregations, includes the Fort Worth area. From January to September, 86 churches in the conference voted on disaffiliation, with 83 of them reaching the decision to do so.

Advertisement

The North Texas Conference encompasses 276 churches, including the Dallas area, with Lovers Lane UMC among them. Fifty-four churches have entered the process, and six have held a vote and reached the two-thirds threshold vote to leave. Ten others decided to remain with the UMC before going to a vote.

Even as the majority of congregations in the North Texas Conference have not even considered leaving, Copeland described the rift within the community as “heartbreaking.”

“We all know each other,” he said. “We went to school with each other. We’ve served some of the same churches.”

The denomination has been in serious theological debate over LGBTQ inclusion in theology and practice for over 40 years, and Copeland said he and others look forward to a time when there will no longer be a fight over this issue.

Advertisement

The Rev. Andy Lewis, a North Texas Conference assistant to the bishop who has worked closely with churches discerning disaffiliation, said the process has also been painful to watch for LGBTQ people and their family members.

“LGBTQ persons are not an issue,” he said.

Lewis noted that churches in Dallas County have shown less interest in disaffiliation than in rural and suburban counties.

Advertisement

“We hope and believe that we can remain unified,” he said. “All churches — traditional churches, progressive churches, centrist churches, everyone in between — everyone is a welcome and valued part of our conference and our ministry together.”

Related Stories
View More