Conference's 'Re-affiliation' Policy Seeks to Welcome Disaffiliated Churches Back Home

by

While U.S. annual conferences are going through the throes of more painful disaffiliations through the end of 2023, Alabama-West Florida Conference's board of trustees has set up a policy for churches with "buyers' remorse" over their disaffiliation to rejoin The United Methodist Church.

Believed to be the first of its kind in the United States – or at least the first to be publicized – the policy was sparked by a compassionate motion based on Jesus' parable of the forgiving father, more popularly known as the parable of the prodigal son, from Luke 15:11-32. The motion was put forth by the Rev. Dr. Nathan Attwood, senior pastor of First United Methodist Church in Marianna, Florida.

In a telephone interview with United Methodist Insight, Dr. Attwood said he was moved to propose a re-affiliation policy by both the pain of disaffiliations and by recent indications that some churches are beginning to realize what they've lost in exiting the UMC.

"I know that some disaffiliated churches have asked their former district superintendents for help in finding pastors," Dr. Attwood said. "And I saw in one church newsletter that the possibility of rejoining The United Methodist Church was included among topics for a congregation's discussion."

The Marianna pastor said he observed that some smaller churches are coming to realize what they've lost in giving up their United Methodist affiliation.

"I think that some churches may have thought they were simply taking a stand against theology or homosexuality," Dr. Attwood said. "Now they're beginning to realize what they've lost in leaving the covenant community of The United Methodist Church."

In a Sept. 18 article announcing the new policy on the conference website, the Rev. Kelli Hitchman-Craig quoted Dr. Attwood's regarding his re-affiliation motion:

“We’ve talked about disaffiliation for long enough, the conversation needs to turn towards reconciliation," he said. “Our communication about how to disaffiliate has been so clear, it should be just as clear for churches to learn how to come home.”

The conference article also quoted Dr. Attwood's speech in favor of re-affiliation:

“On the very day that the Prodigal Son left home, the father began to make preparations for his return, and so it is our responsibility as followers of Jesus Christ, as the spiritual home of the churches who have left, to make sure that the light is on, there’s a plate in the oven, and that we are ready to receive them with open arms, with the robe and the ring.”

When interviewed by Insight, Dr. Attwood said he was "so pleased" that the conference board of trustees acted swiftly and decisively on his suggestion, which was supported by a vote at the 2023 conference session last June. Despite the ruptures caused by the disaffiliation movement – past reports have noted breaks in longtime friendships and collegial relationships – Dr. Attwood said he sees the winding down of disaffiliations as an opportunity to move forward.

"We all have things we have to work through as a result of the disaffiliations," Dr. Attwood said. "The only thing now is to move forward in a reconciling way."

Dr. Attwood's view was echoed by the Rev. Emily Kincaid, conference board of trustees’ chair, who also was quoted in the Hitchman-Craig article.

“The Board was very excited to consider and pass the policy; we are grateful for the request that came from Dr. Attwood,” she said. “This is the most life-giving work of what the Board has been doing.”

According to the conference news article, the trustees based the re-affiliation policy on Paragraph 259 of the United Methodist Book of Discipline, which governs new church starts. Hitchman-Craig wrote: "The policy applies to congregations who bring with them church property. Congregations without church property are admitted into the connection through a different procedure. Terms for re-affiliation include a core group of congregants, financial stability, and the transferal of the property’s deed to the Annual Conference, as laid out in the Trust Clause (Paragraph 2501)."

In essence, the process for a church to re-affiliation resembles that of the disaffiliation procedure: a church's leadership must meet with the superintendent of the United Methodist District in which it's located, a statement of why the church wishes to re-affiliate, and an approving vote by the church's leaders and congregation.

However, unlike disaffiliation, a church that votes to re-affiliate won't be required to be approved by the annual conference; its return can simply be okayed by the conference board of trustees. Hitchman-Craig also notes that "should the re-affiliating church be within three years of their decision to disaffiliate, the first year’s connectional giving, or apportionments, are waived." Waiving a year of apportionments resets a church's financial situation, since exiting churches are required to pay two years' worth of apportionments to leave with their church property.

“When our denomination divided in 1844 over the issue of slavery, the deepest division in our history, it took 95 years for reconciliation to take place; and that process is still ongoing," Dr. Attwood was quoted when the new policy was announced. "There’s no reason it should take 95 years or more for us to reconcile. The sooner reconciliation begins, the sooner Christ’s prayer for us can be fulfilled.

Dr. Attwood said he sees the new re-affiliation policy as a hopeful reminder “that there is always the option of going home.”

Information from an Alabama-West Florida Conference news article by the Rev. Kelli Hitchman-Craig was used in the article with permission.

Veteran award-winning religion journalist Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, an online news and views journal she founded in 2011 as a media channel for marginalized and under-served United Methodists. This content may be reproduced elsewhere provided credit is given to United Methodist Insight with a link to its original posting.