Disaffiliation Wave Faces Complexities, Lawsuits, Emotional Distress

by

United Methodist Insight Analysis

The complexities and the agony of the disintegration of The United Methodist Church have come to the fore in August. Bishops have distributed information about their conferences' disaffiliation process while battling misinformation about the UMC's future. Local congregations have held votes on leaving the UMC that have left lifelong members feeling as though they've been evicted from their decades-long spiritual home.

Meanwhile, the Wesleyan Covenant Association, founder of the Global Methodist Church, has disclosed a strategy of pressing lawsuits in multiple conferences to evade the financial burdens of the disaffiliation process that traditionalists themselves enacted at the 2019 special General Conference.

Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline outlines the disaffiliation process. It grants congregations the right to leave the denomination "for reasons of conscience" until Dec. 31, 2023. However, Paragraph 2553 also allows annual conferences to set local requirements for leaving that many congregations now find onerous. These institutional obligations can be complicated, requiring detailed financial and property agreements from departing churches.

Florida Annual Conference

In early August, Insight learned that issues around liability insurance are playing a previously unspecified role in the lawsuit brought by 106 churches seeking to leave the UMC without paying required financial obligations to the conference, according to a statement by the Rev. Thomas Lambrecht, executive vice president of the unofficial Good News traditionalist caucus. Rev. Lambrecht described the situation to Insight:

"In talking with leaders in Florida and as I understand it, it is actually the insurance issue that has made it very difficult for churches to disaffiliate in addition to the up-front pension costs," he said in an email.

"Since 1996, Florida Conference has self-insured for liability coverage, primarily because of hurricanes, but it includes all liability. When a church disaffiliates, they are not being allowed to retain the past coverage they already paid for. If a liability claim surfaces (such as sexual misconduct) about an incident that took place years ago, they cannot use the insurance that was in effect when the incident occurred. Instead, they are supposed to purchase 'tail' insurance that covers liability retroactively.

"Originally, the 'tail' insurance was supposed to go back to 1996, but no insurance company (not even Lloyd’s of London) would sell that type of insurance at any price. The requirement was changed to three years of 'tail' insurance. One church got an estimate for $1 million of coverage that would cost $130,000 per year for three years. And this was to purchase insurance for a time when they had already purchased insurance through the conference, so they were in effect 'double-paying' for liability insurance at a very outrageous price. The leaders I talked to were concerned that even some of the 13 churches who were approved for disaffiliation at this year’s annual conference will not be able to meet the insurance requirement and will not be able to disaffiliate."

The Rev. Jeremy Rebman, president of the Florida chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and pastor of what is now listed as First Methodist Church in Vero Beach, Fla., also responded to Insight's inquiry.

"We at First Methodist Church of Vero Beach had hoped that we would have 3-4 policy options once the Conference finally reduced the retroactive coverage requirement from 26 to 3 years," said Rev. Rebman, now affiliated with the Global Methodist Church, in an email. "Though several agents approached multiple carriers, we only received one quote in the end, which we obviously had to accept.  We have completed our disaffiliation.

"Several of the churches who were approved for disaffiliation at annual conference have yet to complete their process.  I am concerned for them, and for churches who seek disaffiliation in the future. There is very little interest from carriers to take this risk.  In fact, our experience has been that agents and carriers are dismayed by the unfairness of forcing churches to retroactively cover a period for which they already paid for coverage." 

Brittany Jackson, conference communications officer, provided the following statement from Florida Conference leadership:

"As litigation was started against the Conference, we can say very little. 

"The Florida Conference provides property and liability insurance to all its churches. The insurance terminates, however, for a disaffiliating church. So, the Disaffiliation Agreement of the Florida Conference requires a disaffiliating church to procure $1,000,000 of liability coverage to protect its congregation, the Florida Conference, and the remaining churches in the Conference against claims attributable to the disaffiliating church that are made after it disaffiliates from the denomination.  This coverage should be procured each year for a period of three years.

"The Florida Conference has insurance, but the policies for commercial general and other liabilities have a deductible of $1,000,000 per claim. Therefore, in the absence of insurance protection from the disaffiliated church, the first $1,000,000 of cost associated with a claim attributable to a disaffiliated church would be incurred by the Florida Conference and its continuing churches through their insurance payments. That would be unfair to the Florida Conference and its continuing churches."

Here are some other developments.

Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference

Bishop John Schol issued an extensive letter Aug. 9 outlining the disaffiliation process for Eastern Pennsylvania Conference churches. The next day, the Eastern Pennsylvania chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association announced that 25 churches had followed the Florida model and initiated a lawsuit against the conference using the same attorney as the Florida churches.

In an Aug. 10 email, Bishop Schol lamented the development.

"Apparently, 25 churches have secured a law firm in Florida to represent them in exiting from EPA to join the WCA’s newly formed denomination," Bishop Schol wrote Aug. 10. "At this time, we cannot confirm the 25 churches because we do not have their addresses to verify they are all in EPA. And some churches on the list have names shared by other churches in EPA.

"We are deeply saddened that the churches have chosen this route, as we remain committed to work with and support all of our congregations.

"Apparently the 25 congregations do not want to use the process of paragraph 2553 that was inserted into the Book of Discipline in 2019. This is ironic because the WCA and its followers successfully advocated for the insertion of that paragraph at the 2019 Special Session of General Conference.

"... I and the cabinet pledge to work with the congregations to try to address their concerns peacefully without going to court. Their lawyer has given us to September 1, 2022, to respond to a request for these congregations to leave under paragraph 2548.2 using the terms of the 'Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace through Separation.' But that proposed agreement has not been approved by the General Conference, nor sanctioned by the UMC’s Judicial Council, nor by EPA. We are awaiting a ruling by the Judicial Council about paragraph 2548.2....

"... Our conference officials, the cabinet and I have not endorsed use of paragraph 2548.2 because it does not provide sufficient guidance as outlined in paragraph 2553. Without guidance, an annual conference could require a congregation to pay for the entire church property through a 'comity' agreement. Further, our 2022 Annual Conference concurred by an 81% majority vote that the use of paragraph 2548.2 was out of order when it was proposed as legislation to the 2022 Annual Session.

"The information about disaffiliation and all submitted questions and answers related to disaffiliation can be found on the EPA website’s Disaffiliation Discernment page."

Bishop Schol attached the WCA press release to his email. The release says in part:

"Eastern Pennsylvania has now joined a growing movement within US Conferences, in which groups of churches are banding together and employing attorneys to secure an exit from the UMC. The movement began in Florida, where 106 congregations (about 20% of Florida Conference churches) initiated legal action in May. Similar group actions are now either imminent or already underway in North Carolina, Virginia, Western Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland.

"... In several conferences, bishops and conference boards of trustees have added crippling financial fees to the list of requirements for congregations seeking to exit – in some cases, payments amounting to 50% of the market value of local church properties.

"... In other developments, many hundreds, probably thousands, of congregations are lining up around the US to find ways to exit the UMC. Relatively few had begun the disaffiliation process prior to the mid-March announcement that the 2022 General Conference would be postponed. Most churches had been waiting for the General Conference to pass the Protocol or some other plan to amicably divide or reorganize the denomination. As a result of this third postponement, relatively few congregations across the country (under 300) were able to complete the complicated process of disaffiliation in time for the May-June annual conference season. But now, many more are pushing forward. An example: the Peninsula-Delaware Conference approved only 5 churches for disaffiliation at its June 2022 session. But by July 1, about 100 more of its congregations had officially registered with the conference to pursue disaffiliation in time for next year.

"There is no question now that the UMC is coming apart, and that the efforts of some bishops and other denominational leaders to prevent churches from leaving, and thwart the establishment of the Global Methodist Church – to 'strangle the baby in the crib,' as someone put it – are failing."

In his Aug. 9 email, Bishop Schol outlined the process that Eastern Pennsylvania has set up for congregations that want to leave the UMC. In general, these steps are:

  • Request to Explore and Discern Disaffiliation, which must be submitted by Sept. 1.
  • Discernment and Congregational Vote, organized by two guides appointed by the conference cabinet and Connectional Table, with the vote to be scheduled within six months from September 2022.
  • Relationship Covenant, outlining which ministries the departing church will share with the conference and describing how the church will communicate with the conference during the disaffiliation period. This step is to occur within a month of the congregation's approval of disaffiliation.
  • Due Diligence, when the congregation gathers materials and documents necessary for disaffiliation, including a review of the church deed(s), within two months of a disaffiliation vote.
  • Term Sheet Review and Vote, outlining the terms and costs of disaffiliation as prepared by the conference board of trustees and voted on by the disaffiliating congregation’s representative body, within two months of a disaffiliation vote. This step must be completed by March 31, 2023.
  • Annual Conference Approval – The Annual Conference regular session votes to approve a congregation’s disaffiliation during Eastern Pennsylvania's May 2023 session of annual conference.
  • Fulfill the Requirements of the Term Sheet, when the congregation makes all payments and completes the terms of disaffiliation by Dec. 31, 2023, when Paragraph 2553 terminates.

Bishop Schol also cautioned against believing misinformation being spread about the UMC by dissident forces:

"We have received information from laity and pastors that individuals from within EPA and outside of EPA are seeking to influence congregations, and some information being shared is not true," the bishop wrote. "As I have shared previously, we would like all of our congregations to continue with The United Methodist Church, and we will help congregations discern what God has next for them. Discernment is a process that seeks to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit and not other or louder voices or even the most convincing voices. We are ready to assist congregations to listen for God’s voice."

"We have received information from laity and pastors that individuals from within EPA and outside of EPA are seeking to influence congregations, and some information being shared is not true."

– Bishop John Schol

Indiana Annual Conference

Bishop Julius C. Trimble issued a letter Aug. 8 that sought to be both pastoral and administrative. He reviewed the actions of the 2022 session of annual conference, which was Indiana's first "in-person" gathering since the coronavirus pandemic struck in 2020. Among Indiana's accomplishments he cited more than 2,000 school supply kits brought to Annual Conference, and more than $100,000 was raised in support of Exodus Refugee Immigration, aiding refugees from Afghanistan, Ukraine, and other countries resettling in Indiana.

Bishop Trimble noted the emotional and spiritual toll of the disaffiliation movement on Indiana United Methodists:

"Unlike other conferences, Indiana approved disaffiliating churches for the second consecutive Annual Conference since ¶2553 was added to the United Methodist Book of Discipline by the action of the Special-Called General Conference in 2019. A total of 29 churches have disaffiliated thus far in 2022. 

"A retired pastor approached me during a break at Annual Conference and said, 'Bishop, lay people from some of our churches who are thinking about disaffiliation or have voted to disaffiliate do not want to leave The United Methodist Church or ministries they have committed to in their communities.'  

"In one of my monthly meetings with leaders from ecumenical church bodies in Indiana and Kentucky, a Presbyterian official said, 'Julius, some of the United Methodists have joined our Presbyterian Church because they do not want to be Global Methodist.'

"This division is leading to a sad reality: many people will be left out in the cold. We will make every effort to ensure that there are no major United Methodist deserts in Indiana. UMC Deserts, like food deserts, are places where people live but do not have access to what they need for healthy living. As of today, there are around 1,000 United Methodist churches in 92 counties in our state.

"This division is leading to a sad reality: many people will be left out in the cold."

– Bishop Julius C. Trimble

"The Bishop, Cabinet, Church Development, and our Coordinating Council will ensure that we invest in communities where—through no fault of their own—United Methodists have been forced to become spiritual refugees. This is a time to leave no opportunity gap ignored as we keep the main thing of disciple-making and multiplication before us. 

"If you want to remain United Methodist but have not felt you have allies, I encourage you to reach out to your Conference Superintendent. Please, tell someone if you feel forced to become a refugee from your own church.

"It is in times like these that Satan can rear his ugly head and tempt us to fear the future. Instead, I implore you to hold fast to verses like Deuteronomy 31:6 (CEB). 'Be strong! Be fearless! Don't be afraid and don't be scared by your enemies because the Lord your God is the one who marches with you. He won’t let you down, and he won’t abandon you.' Amen and amen."

Northwest Texas Conference

Northwest Texas Conference previously had voted to move the entire conference to the Global Methodist Church, but the United Methodist Judicial Council ruled that annual conferences cannot unilaterally leave the denomination. Subsequently, a move by the conference to ease the financial burden of disaffiliation was posted as a photo on Facebook (see photo below).

Arkansas Annual Conference

In Arkansas, the disaffiliation vote of one of its largest congregations, First UMC in Jonesboro, drew extensive coverage from Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reporter Frank E. Lockwood. He traced the disaffiliation process in three lengthy articles. The articles are behind a paywall, but the breadth and depth of Mr. Lockwood's reporting are worth the cost.

Arkansas Methodists weigh disaffiliation

Jonesboro First United Methodist Church votes to break away from national organization

United Methodist loyalists weigh post-disaffiliation future

Mr. Lockwood also interviewed Arkansas Bishop Gary E. Mueller about the disaffiliation wave across U.S. United Methodism. In that article, Bishop Gary Mueller assesses Methodist division, he quotes the bishop:

"There are parts of the church in which traditional Trinitarian thinking is beginning to morph into Unitarian thought. However, there are also parts of the church where I am concerned that traditional Christian orthodox thought is beginning to resemble white Christian nationalism.

"... The centrists [are] kind of a little on the left, the moderates on the right, who share orthodox, traditional theological beliefs and are deeply connected in the body of Christ and to our history and to our common mission. I think in Arkansas, the biggest majority of the church would fall that in that broad middle, the heart of United Methodism."

A loyalist group, StayUMCJonesboro, had urged First UMC-Jonesboro members to remain with the UMC. After the vote, the group posted the following on Facebook.

Bishops battle misinformation

Bishops in both the North Texas and Western North Carolina conferences have issued statements to their clergy and laity refuting rumors about the UMC's future being spread by dissident forces.

In North Texas, Bishop Mike McKee denounced "rumors and false assumptions [that] have made this a season of strife, discord, confusion and anxiety." He refuted several familiar tropes that have been rebutted previously:

  • That "The United Methodist Church plans to eliminate or alter its foundational theological doctrines, including the doctrine of the Trinity and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. These claims are blatantly untrue and seek only to sow seeds of fear. Not only are our United Methodist doctrines and beliefs protected in The Constitution of the UMC, our Doctrinal Standards and the General Rules, but they are cornerstones of our faith. You can trust that they are unchanging."
  • That "there will not be a place for traditionalists in The United Methodist Church moving forward and that their only option is to depart the denomination. Statements like this undermine the very real and important contributions of the traditionalist leaders and congregations who continue to faithfully serve in the North Texas Conference."
  • That "some within the North Texas Conference believe the Cabinet and I are 'refusing to uphold The Book of Discipline,' picking and choosing whether to pursue chargeable offenses. In truth, we follow the complaint procedures as outlined in The Book of Discipline ¶362 and ¶2701, examining all filed complaints and addressing each with an appropriate response. Because complaints and their resolutions within The United Methodist Church – like personnel matters in the secular world – are kept confidential, I can understand how it may appear that no action has been taken. However, please know that I take The Book of Discipline and the behavior of NTC clergy seriously and aim to handle this area of my responsibilities with the utmost integrity."

In the Western North Carolina Conference, Bishop Ken Carter (who also leads the Florida Conference) reiterated his previous statement: ""There is misinformation about what the ongoing and future United Methodist Church believes.  Some of this misinformation is being shared in local churches."

Bishop Carter recommended that Western North Carolina United Methodists read and use the Council of Bishops' statement "A Narrative for the Continuing United Methodist Church" prepared last fall.

"If we do not tell our story, others will construct a story about us, in this instance a false witness about the UMC," Bishop Carter wrote. "This is a violation of the 9th Commandment."  

Caucus urges pastors to push disaffiliation

Among dozens of social media posts regarding United Methodist disaffiliation, a reader forwarded to Insight this screenshot of a post by Rob Renfroe, president of the Good News conservative caucus.

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011. To reproduce this content elsewhere, please email Insight for permission.