This is the second in a series of articles about the current state of the United Methodist Church. These articles are meant to inform the congregation of what is happening in the broader church and give context to the work of the Discernment Team. To read the first article, What is the divide really about?, click here.
Is the denomination dividing already?
If you mention you are United Methodist to someone, chances are the next question will be, “Isn’t there a split happening in the United Methodist Church?” It can be argued that the United Methodist Church has been splitting for quite some time, but an actual split (where churches are formally leaving the denomination) is now underway.
In 2019, a called General Conference was convened to consider the proposals from the Commission on a Way Forward. (See a review of that in the first article). After the Traditional Plan1 was passed, a new paragraph was added to the Book of Discipline, paragraph 2553.2 The new paragraph outlined a process for individual churches to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church for reasons of conscience. This was the first time in the history of the United Methodist Church that local churches were given the ability to separate from the denomination. Disaffiliation means that the church continues to be a worshiping congregation, but is no longer a part of the United Methodist Church; it does not dissolve, it simply separates.
Paragraph 2553 contains the following:
- A local church may disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church by a two-thirds majority vote at a duly called charge conference.
- The trust clause, which binds all the property of all United Methodist Churches together, is suspended. If the terms of disaffiliation are met by the local church, the church property and buildings are deeded over to the local congregation.
- The local church must pay the disaffiliation terms. They are:
- Any unpaid apportionments for the 12 months prior to disaffiliation, as well as an additional 12 months of apportionments. (This includes both conference and district apportionments.)
- The local church shall contribute withdrawal liability in an amount equal to its pro rata share of any aggregate unfunded pension obligations to the annual conference.
- A church is officially disaffiliated after a vote of the Annual Conference.
- Paragraph 2553 is in effect until December 31, 2023; meaning it is no longer valid after that date unless renewed at General Conference in 2024.
Originally, many people believed that the more progressive churches of the UMC would disaffiliate given that the Traditional Plan was passed at GC2019. However, when the regularly scheduled General Conference for 2020 was postponed and then postponed again, a sentiment grew among traditionally minded United Methodists that the denomination would stall out once again. Instead of waiting two more years for change that may or may not happen, the Global Methodist Church launched on May 1, 2022. (The next article will answer the question, What is the Global Methodist Church?”)
The launch of the Global Methodist Church has precipitated a movement within some local churches to disaffiliate according to the terms of paragraph 2553. As of October 24, 2022, a total of 1035 local churches have disaffiliated or been discontinued from the United Methodist Church.3 Please note that not all disaffiliating churches are joining the Global Methodist Church. Some are looking at other denominations (i.e. Free Methodist, Nazarene, Wesleyan) or remaining independent. Disaffiliations will continue to grow as Special Annual Conferences are held in November and December as well as during next summer’s regular annual conference season. A Special Kentucky Annual Conference will be held on December 4, 2022 for the purpose of approving the disaffiliation of churches in our conference who have already met the terms of paragraph 2553.
1 You can see all the plans on this handout: https://s3.amazonaws.com/Website_Properties_UGC/learn/documents/GC2019-Plan-comparison.pdf
2 The paragraph can be read in full here: https://www.umc.org/en/content/book-of-discipline-2553-disaffiliation-over-human-sexuality