Like most churches, the Rev. Mao Her said, her congregation at Christ United Methodist Church near Milwaukee hoped the special session would resolve the disagreement within the denomination. Then they hoped it would be the protocol.
When that resolution never came, Her said, the church’s leadership board decided to discuss disaffiliation with the congregation.
It was a time-consuming process, and the pastor said she felt like the annual conference made it purposely difficult, but she understands why: “If you are not sure and if you are not convicted about leaving, you know, you’re not going to be able to go through this process. It takes a lot of time and effort, and it costs a lot of money.”
The pre-conference workbook on the Wisconsin Annual Conference’s website put the price tag of Christ United Methodist Church’s disaffiliation at more than $100,000. That’s a lot of money for a church whose proposed 2023 budget includes less than $163,000 in revenue.
But the church was convicted.
Christ United Methodist Church in Greenfield, Wisconsin. RNS photo by Emily McFarlan Miller
Christ United Methodist Church was founded in 1965, according to Her. When she arrived in 2013, about 65 people were worshipping there each Sunday. That number since has been cut in half, she said, noting some in the mostly elderly congregation have passed away and some have not returned to services since the pandemic.
Those congregants are “very family-oriented,” “very faithful” and “pretty traditional in their theology,” she said. That includes a belief that the Bible teaches a view of “traditional marriage between a man and a woman,” she said, but she explained the debate over sexuality within the United Methodist Church is really just a symptom of deeper divides.
“What it boils down to is our understanding and our interpretation of the Scripture,” Her said.
The pastor said the church now plans to join the Global Methodist Church, which has created a home for disaffiliating churches that feels familiar.
“All of the leaders and pastors are coming out from the United Methodist Church, you know, so this is just like home. It’s nothing new,” Her said.
Under a Previous Provision
Before there was Paragraph 2553, there was Paragraph 2549.
That previous provision in the Book of Discipline is generally used when a church closes “because it no longer serves the purpose for which it was organized,” according to information on the South Carolina Conference’s website.
