Disa-what?”

Those of you who watch or read news closely, and/or who have friends in other United Methodist churches have probably heard the word “Disaffiliation” in the recent past. Disaffiliation refers to the process set up for churches that are or who expect to be in theological disagreement with the church’s stance towards human sexuality. My article this month, along with some other supporting material, will attempt to explain how this got started, what it looks like, why we may or may not pursue disaffiliation, and what I would ask of you as the new year unfolds.

How we got here: Ever since the 1972 Book of Discipline, the debate over human sexuality has been part of the UMC, specifically as it relates to what was then called homosexuality,and now is part of the larger LGBTQ+ community. In the 1972 and following Book of Discipline, the church has said that the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching, and that the UMC would not ordain self-avowed practicing homosexual persons. As you either know or can guess, the topic has come up every four years since then (General Conference writes and edits the Book of Discipline and is the only body that can speak for the UMC as a whole). In 2016, the topic was tabled, and the 2019 called General Conference accepted the “Traditional Plan,” with the idea that it would come back in 2020. We did not have a 2020 General Conference, and one was scheduled for 2022, rescheduled for 2023, and is now going to happen in 2024. In the meantime, the 2019 General Conference approved and added paragraph 2353 to the Book of Discipline, which allows for churches to “disaffiliate” from the UMC, carrying their property with them (all United Methodist churches have a “trust clause” that returns the property to the UMC if the congregation closes or ceases to be part of the UMC or succeeding organizations). Under paragraph 2353, a church that goes through the process led by the District Superintendent and votes to disaffiliate (which requires 2/3rds of the members called for a Church Conference) and which pays whatever apportionments that the Conference Trustees deems appropriate, can carry its property with them. Should we consider such action, I do not know what amount we could be required to pay, but it likely will not be less than $200,000-500,000.

The process in a nutshell: Church Council would have to vote to contact the DS to begin the discernment process, which would take no less than a month, after which the DS (if the church decides to continue the process) would call for a church conference that all members would be encouraged to attend and vote. At that point, the church would know what the cost would be for disaffiliation, and we would have to have a vote at that point to disaffiliate or not.

I want to play the two scenarios out in brief: If we were to disaffiliate, we would need to change our name, stationary, etc. We would also need to write up all our papers on by-laws, taxes, policies, procedures, committee structure, and the like, unless we were to join another denomination, in which case, we’d have to abide by their policies. If we were to remain UMC, we would have to deal with whatever General Conference 2024 brings, which would mean disaffiliation, remaining, or some other scenario.

As your current pastor, I’ve tried to write this as clear as I can without telling you what the right answer is, because the church ultimately belongs to Christ first, to you second, and to me third. It is your role to discern the best path, and I will help to the best of my ability, but it is your decision. It is, by the way, my decision about what I do. Your decision will carry weight with me, just as my decision will carry weight with you, but we do not have to make the same decision.

However things work out, I do want to caution both those who wish to disaffiliate and those who wish to remain that making enemies of those who disagree is not okay. It is too easy to make enemies of the opposite political party from our own preference, and that has disastrous complications for our nation. It is worse for the church because we are members one of another. If we become enemies of each other, we are literally tearing the body apart. My hope is that, whatever we decide to do, we make that decision together with respect for each other.

The final note – we will have an informal church meeting on the subject of disaffiliation (this is not a meeting to decide anything, but to make sure everyone knows what is going on) soon. As soon as I have a date and an agenda, I will share. This will not be a meeting where we will take sides or vote. This will be a meeting for the purpose of getting all the information we need to stay educated on what is happening.