Then came COVID-19 and three postponements of the General Conference, the last of which prompted a group of conservative United Methodists to announce they were done waiting.
The name and logo of the new Global Methodist Church. Image courtesy of Global Methodist Church
Those conservative United Methodists launched the Global Methodist Church on Sunday. At least one European conference and a retired bishop already have joined, according to reports, though the new denomination has not released any numbers.
“Our churches long for the day of being able to unite with like-minded Christians who focus on sharing the Good News of Jesus and help people to be transformed by His salvation,” Therrell said in the WCA-Florida statement on Facebook.
Reached by phone by RNS, Therrell clarified that church councils at 107 United Methodist churches have told the WCA-Florida that they have decided to begin the process to join the Global Methodist Church. That would be about 20% of all churches in the Florida Conference, according to the WCA-Florida.
Working with David Gibbs III, president and general counsel of the National Center for Life and Liberty, each of the churches has sent requests to disaffiliate to the Florida conference, according to Therrell.
Some churches’ requests could be voted on at this summer’s annual conference, he said. Some are hoping the conference will call a special session later to create terms for conservative churches to leave that would be similar to those in the Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation.
Therrell said the chapter cannot name those churches. A map on the Wesleyan Covenant Association website shows 38 churches in Florida whose congregations or pastors have affirmed the association’s doctrinal statements.
Jay Therrell. Courtesy of Therrell
Florida is a diverse state, the WCA-Florida president said, and the churches in its WCA chapter are equally diverse: large and small; urban, suburban and rural; predominantly white, African American, Latino, Haitian and Korean.
“The church councils of these churches have made the decision to initiate the process, and there are a couple of different exit ramps that the Book of Discipline provides that all ultimately end with an annual conference approval and vote of some kind at the local church,” he said.
Currently, the United Methodist Book of Discipline, the denomination’s rulebook, allows annual conferences to instruct the board of trustees of a church to deed that church’s property to other Methodist or evangelical denominations in certain circumstances.
The 2019 special session of the General Conference also approved a disaffiliation plan that allows a congregation to make a “gracious exit” from the denomination by the end of 2023. It can leave with its property for “reasons of conscience” related to sexuality after paying the rest of the year’s apportionments, the next year’s apportionments and its pension liabilities.
“We think that the longer churches wait, the riskier it gets,” Therrell said.
This article originally appeared here.
