186 Georgia UMC Churches Sue Regional Conference for Denying Disaffiliation

186 Churches Sue UMC North Georgia Conference For Halting Disaffiliation Process

View of the stage during the United Methodist Church's special session General Conference inside the Dome at America's Center in St. Louis, Missouri, on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2019. | United Methodist News Service/Kathleen Barry

More than 180 congregations in Georgia have filed a lawsuit after their regional body of the United Methodist Church refused to allow them to disaffiliate amid a denominational schism over homosexuality. 

Last week, 186 churches filed a lawsuit against the UMC North Georgia Conference in Superior Court in Cobb County over the conference's decision last December to prohibit any more congregations from leaving amid a denominational schism over homosexuality. 

The Wesleyan Covenant Association of North Georgia, an unofficial conservative advocacy group that helped conservative churches form the Global Methodist Church breakaway denomination, released a statement explaining that the decision to sue comes "with a heavy heart."

"We recognize that taking legal action against the UMC is a drastic step," the WCA of North Georgia stated. "Be assured that every possible option has been explored to avoid this moment."

"We trust that this present course will restore the process so we all can continue on this journey toward disaffiliation. … God has got this, friends, and he will see us through."

North Georgia Conference Bishop Robin Dease said in a statement that her "heart aches" over the congregations' decision to file the legal action. 

"While we review the lawsuit with the appropriate counsel, we will refrain from sharing details, however, we are familiar with the issues. Similarly, a lawsuit has been filed against the conference and its leadership by a church in Augusta," Dease stated.

"I affirm my commitment to honor and uphold the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, to be the best United Methodist bishop I can be, and to faithfully co-labor with you as we fulfill the mission of the Church."

The North Georgia Conference announced in December that it was putting a "pause" on the disaffiliation process, claiming that "any local churches have been misled about the disaffiliation process and have been presented with information about the process."

"We have significant concerns about this misinformation and are well aware that it has the potential to do irreparable harm," stated the conference at the time. "We do not have confidence in the validity of upcoming church conference disaffiliation votes."

The conference further argued the pause in disaffiliations "will allow churches to gain more information about the real, rather than the false or hypothetical, future of our church."

In June 2022, before the disaffiliation pause, 70 congregations representing 9% of the conference's churches and 3% of its members disaffiliated from the UMC.

In 2022, over 1,800 churches had their disaffiliation votes approved by their respective conferences. The disaffiliations come in large part amid the denomination's ongoing debate on whether to allow the blessing of same-sex unions and the ordination of people in same-sex romantic relationships.

Although the UMC Book of Discipline currently bans both practices, many progressive clergy have refused to enforce the rules, and theological liberals within the UMC have engaged in a yearslong unsuccessful effort to change the denomination's stance. Some progressive denominational leaders have refused to follow or enforce the denominational rules on LGBT issues. 

In announcing the disaffiliation pause, the UMC North Georgia Conference refuted "Church leaders communicating that North Georgia Conference leadership is not following the Book of Discipline."

"In fact, the North Georgia Annual Conference and its leaders have taken no actions in conflict with the Book of Discipline," the statement read.

The conservative alternative to the UMC known as the Global Methodist Church was launched last year, with several hundreds of UMC congregations voting to join the new denomination. The launch came as the UMC announced that it would delay its General Conference meeting to 2024, the third time the General Conference was postponed since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Delegates were expected to negotiate a denominational split.

While many congregations have been allowed to disaffiliate, others have faced financial roadblocks or have had their disaffiliation votes outright denied, which has led to several lawsuits impacting various conferences. 

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Nearly 200 United Methodist churches in Georgia filed a lawsuit last week against their own denomination's regional body after they were temporarily halted from disaffiliating, marking another escalation in tensions among mainline Protestants over issues of sexuality and church authority.

The lawsuit filed by 186 Methodist churches in the UMC North Georgia Conference is the latest step in the contentious schism fracturing the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. In recent years as generally conservative local congregations seek to break away from the liberal mainline denomination, according to UM News.

Leaders of the conference acted "wrongfully, in bad faith, and … beyond the limits of their power" to deny the churches "the right to vote on withdrawal from the UMC with their property intact," according to the lawsuit.

The Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA) of North Georgia, which advocates for such breakaway congregations, issued a statement expressing a "heavy heart" in the wake of the lawsuit. "We recognize that taking legal action against the UMC is a drastic step," they said. "Be assured that every possible option has been explored to avoid this moment."

LAWYER REPRESENTING METHODIST CHURCHES TRYING TO LEAVE SAYS CONTENTIOUS SPLIT IS ABOUT ‘POWER’ AND ‘MONEY’

 © AP Photo/Sid Hastings Protesters chant during the United Methodist Church's special session of the general conference in St. Louis Feb. 26, 2019. AP Photo/Sid Hastings

More than 2,000 U.S. Churches have disaffiliated from the UMC since 2019, when the UMC General Conference voted 438-384 to uphold the church’s ban on ordaining LGBTQ clergy and officiating at or hosting same-sex marriages.

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Many of the conservative congregations that have sought to break off claim the vote was simply disregarded by liberal UMC leaders who chose to commission gay clergy and officiate same-sex weddings anyway, according traditionalist members of the Methodist clergy who spoke to Fox News Digital last June.

UNITED METHODIST SPLIT GROWS MORE CONTENTIOUS AS GEORGIA CONFERENCE BLOCKS CONSERVATIVE CHURCHES FROM EXITING

The lawsuit comes months after the North Georgia Conference cited "misinformation" for its decision to "pause" any further disaffiliation efforts from congregations attempting to leave the denomination, according to a Dec. 28 email sent to member churches. The conference claimed the pause "will allow churches to gain more information about the real, rather than the false or hypothetical, future of our church."

North Georgia Conference Bishop Robin Dease said in a statement that her "heart aches" over the lawsuit and claimed "information presented to members of local churches about disaffiliation has been outside the bounds of normal and acceptable civil discourse."

 © Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images Rev. Cynthia Good, pastor at Calvary United Methodist Church in Arlington, Mass., speaks to her church during Sunday services Jan. 5, 2020. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

In 2019, the General Conference also approved Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline, which allows UMC churches to leave with their church buildings and property if they obtain the approval of two-thirds of their congregation and their regional governing body. The North Georgia Conference was one of several that paused that disaffiliation process until next year, by which time the disaffiliation clause in the Book of Discipline will have expired and the rules for leaving subject to change.

"The United Methodist Church website specifically states that when General Conference 2024 meets Paragraph 2553 will not exist and therefore, it is not possible to ‘extend’ a provision that does not exist," the lawsuit says.

Dan Dalton, an attorney who is representing multiple congregations facing legal hurdles in their attempts to leave the denomination, recently told Fox News Digital that the denominational squabble is mostly about power and money. As the UMC hemorrhages congregations, the UMC's General Conference is slated to receive its lowest budget in nearly 40 years, according to UM News.

"The conferences don't have it, but the local churches do have it," Dalton said of Methodist money. "The conferences are seeing their churches that were providing apportionments are leaving, and the churches that don't pay apportionments to the conferences are staying. So they're seeing that their ability to survive is declining."

"I think that's why they're clamping down on this whole thing, and it really all comes down to money," claimed Dalton, who pushed back against those who would present the Methodist split as solely over sexuality.

METHODIST LEADERS SAY ‘REBELLION AND DYSFUNCTION’ OVER LGBT ISSUES SPLITTING DENOMINATION

 © Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images An LGBTQ+ flag flies over Union United Methodist Church in the South End of Boston Jan. 5, 2020. Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

Jeff Jernigan, a lay member at McEachern Memorial United Methodist Church in Powder Springs, Georgia, told Fox News Digital that while the split among the Methodists began as a theological dispute over sexuality, the issues have grown "much deeper" because denominational leaders "pick and choose" which portions of their Book of Discipline they want to enforce.

NEARLY ONE-THIRD OF CHURCHES SPLIT FROM REGIONAL METHODIST CHURCH BODY AMID ONGOING SCHISM ABOUT SEXUALITY

"It's just unbelievable that folks would take an oath in front of God and all of us to follow the Book of Discipline, and then just arbitrarily choose not to in certain circumstances. And then, in other ones, where they want to follow it, they enforce it with much rigor."

Jernigan, whose church is one of those involved in the lawsuit, acknowledged that the legal battles within the denomination are not a good look for either Methodists or Christianity but claimed denominational leaders have left churches no recourse but to appeal to the government.

 © dlewis33 via Getty Images The First United Methodist Church in Little Rock, Ark., displays a rainbow decoration. Dlewis33 via Getty Images

"It's horrible that we have to take our disputes to the secular court, but when there is no justice in the church process, we are left with no other choice," he said. "It's like when Paul wrote that Christian citizens shouldn't sue each other, but then when he was denied justice in the Jewish courts, he appealed to Rome because there was no justice in the religious [legal] process."

"It's just heartbreaking that we're faced with this situation now. They won't even let us vote [to leave]. That's not only un-Christian, it's un-American that they would disenfranchise us. All we're asking for is a right to vote, which is what this process allows. Just let us vote, that's all we want."

Despite the contention, Jernigan said he's "more excited about the future of the Wesleyan movement than I ever have been in my life."

"We have the new wineskins that are emerging from this with the Global Methodist Church and other expressions that are vital, active, healthy and have moved past this kind of inept leadership," he said.

 © Shannon Finney/Getty Images The exterior of Foundry United Methodist Church with colors of the Pride and Progress flags June 25, 2020, in Washington, D.C. Shannon Finney/Getty Images

Many of the congregations that have successfully departed the UMC have either remained independent or joined the conservative Global Methodist Church, which launched May 1, 2022, as a traditionalist alternative for Methodist churches around the world.

"Even though this is extremely painful, where we are at the moment, I think God's got some great things in store for the Wesleyan movement," Jernigan added.

Ga. Methodist Churches Sue To Restore Disaffiliation Process

Mountain View UMC of East Cobb said it was denied a disaffiliation vote by the North Georgia Conference in January.

A total of 186 Georgia congregations of the United Methodist Church—including one in East Cobb–have filed a lawsuit seeking the restoration of a disaffiliation process that was halted at the end of 2022.

Mountain View United Methodist Church, located on Jamerson Road, is listed as a plaintiff in the suit, which was filed Thursday in Cobb Superior Court.

Several other Cobb County UMC churches also are named as plaintiffs in the lawsuit, whose attorneys also have filed a motion for an emergency hearing before Judge Kellie Hill.

The suit alleges that the UMC’s North Georgia Conference, which oversees nearly 900 churches, improperly closed down the disaffiliation process on Dec. 28, 2022, “leaving tens of thousands of Christians begging for the process to get back on track,” according to a release issued with the lawsuit (you can read it here).

Former North Georgia Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson—a central figure in the conference’s dispute with Mt. Bethel Church in East Cobb in 2021 and 2022—is named as a defendant, along with her successor, Robin Dease, the conference board of trustees and several conference district superintendents.

The conference said in December that the disaffiliation process needed to be paused because “many local churches have been misled about the disaffiliation process and have been presented with information about the process, and about The United Methodist Church and its leadership, that is factually incorrect and defamatory.”

Without giving specifics, the conference said that “this information presented to members of local churches about disaffiliation has been outside the bounds of normal and acceptable civil discourse. It has not only been false and misleading but has been antithetical to the concept of a gracious exit or a commitment to honoring the mission and ministry of all Christians.”

In the lawsuit, the suing churches said that the conference is violating the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing documents by stopping the process, and that the current disaffiliation process will be sunsetting at the end of 2023.

The UMC enacted a disaffiliation process in 2019 for conservative churches to leave the denomination under Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline.

That provision allowed departing churches to keep much of their property and assets.

The UMC has been split for years on a number of theological issues, especially over human sexuality. The nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination does not currently allow for lesbian and gay clergy or same-sex marriages in the current Book of Discipline, but that is expected to change.

A formal protocol was to have been voted on at the UMC General Conference in 2020, but that was cancelled due to COVID-19. The conference has been further delayed to 2024.

“The United Methodist Church website specifically states that when General Conference 2024 meets Paragraph 2553 will not exist and therefore, it is not possible to ‘extend’ a provision that does not exist,” the lawsuit states.

“Further, there is no legislation presently before the General Conference to create a new or similar Paragraph 2553.”

In the release, Pastor John Kenney of The Quest Church, in Grovetown, Ga., one of the plaintiff congregations, said that “churches in North Georgia that want to disaffiliate using the previously approved process are stuck.”

The release also claims that only the North Georgia Conference is preventing formal disaffiliation procedures.

In response to a message from East Cobb News, the North Georgia Conference repeated some of its December explanation for pausing the disaffiliation process, saying that conference leaders “have significant concerns about this misinformation and are well aware that it has the potential to do irreparable harm.”

Dease said that “conference leaders remain committed to handling this matter in a fair, transparent, uniform, and good-faith manner that affirms the one universal church in service to Christ and honors the mission and ministry of all Christians” and that they “are prayerfully exploring the best methods for moving forward and next steps available as set forth in the Book of Discipline.”

Among the churches in limbo is Mountain View UMC of East Cobb, which began a discernment process last fall it calls “The Path Forward.”

Meetings were held to offer members viewpoints for and against disaffiliation. A straw poll in January revealed that nearly 80 percent of voting Mountain View members wanted to leave the UMC.

But the church’s official request for a disaffiliation vote was denied, according to its timeline of events.

At the same time, that timelines states that conservative Wesleyan Covenant Association—of which Mt. Bethel is a leading member—was denied a meeting with Dease, who in January succeeded Haupert-Johnson, now a bishop in Virginia.

The WCA and its new Global Methodist Church denomination began working with the National Center for Life and Liberty, a conservative, Florida-based religious liberty organization, to “to assist North Georgia legal strategies,” according to the Mountain View timeline.

In February, Mountain View agreed to become part of the lawsuit, which includes some 70 churches that were allowed to formally disaffiliate in 2022.

The conference and Mt. Bethel settled their legal disputes last June, with the East Cobb congregation paying $13.1 million to leave the UMC.

Mt. Bethel attorneys said they wanted to have a disaffiliation vote, but the conference rejected that option.

Mt. Bethel is prevented from selling properties on its main campus on Lower Roswell Road for seven and a half years without giving the UMC and the North Georgia Conference the right of first refusal to purchase them.

Mt. Bethel also cannot house a denominational office on its grounds on the main campus for that period of time.

Mt. Bethel formally left the UMC in July 2022 without a vote, and some former disaffected members began a new church, Grace Resurrection Methodist Church.

Neither are affiliated with a denomination.

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