Conflicting Videos Describe Confrontation at WCA Meeting

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UPDATED 8:30 March 11

Reports of exclusive Wesleyan Covenant Association "information and strategy" meetings in the Florida Annual Conference expanded March 11 as another pastor posted on her Facebook page that she had been barred from another WCA gathering.

The Rev. Clare Watson Chance, senior pastor of Avondale UMC in Jacksonville, Fla., posted on her Facebook page:

"Well, for the first time in my life, I have been excluded. The Wesley Covenant/Global Methodists would not allow me into a meeting at Lakewood United Methodist Church! I was behaving like a lady at the time too! But there was a group of men at the one unlocked door, screening people. Mason Dorsey, a clergy colleague of mine, recognized me and summoned Jay Therrell to come stand in front of me and keep me out. I hugged him. I spoke in truth and love, explaining that I want to understand the options. I promised not to say a word. Jay’s response: “You can’t come in here. Our attorneys have advised us not to let you in.” Seriously? A sweet clergywoman like me? That is so sad. I guess I learned what I needed to know about what this organization is. Exclusive. Jesus wept. Me too."

Rev. Chilcote posted an assessment of the impact the WCA meetings are having:

"We are not in Florida at the moment, but I have been appalled by the actions apparently taken by Wesleyan Covenant Association leaders to prohibit United Methodists, including a District Superintendent, from participating in events that they have sponsored on United Methodist properties. I have always lived by a simple rule (among many others) - Events in the life of the church ought to be open to the involvement of all. If you have to prohibit the participation of fellow Christians, then what is being done and what is being said must be viewed with suspicion. So, with regard to these events that have recently taken place, my response is simple and straightforward. Jesus was inclusive. Be and do likewise."

In reply to Rev. Chilcote's post about the WCA gatherings, United Methodist layman Jim Green wrote:

"If it is a 'private' meeting, why distribute a flyer like this? As Finance Chair of my church, I don't know if we are 'wishing to depart' the UMC – we haven't discussed it yet – but to be prepared for such a discussion, I have questions about what the GMC has to offer in comparison to the UMC."

Green posted a photo of a flyer distributed by the WCA Florida chapter announcing its meetings. United Methodist Insight reproduces the flyer with this update.

Rev. Chilcote's post drew an exchange between two women that seemed to sum up the controversy over the WCA's meetings:

Susan Moore: ... The space was rented and with its own insurance, and thus not a UMC meeting. So yes it was private and legal. Her video was meant to intimidate those attending with her phone video of who attended and remaining after the meeting filming who came out. And her stunt that she was thrown out of a UMC was to make a mockery of the group that rented the space. She and her husband knew ahead of time the official status of the meeting so there were no good intentions on her part or her husband who did not speak up.

Sally Stewart: ... Rented or not, the meeting should not have been held on UMC property. Even if it was legal, it was not ethical. The DS's wife is a member of the UMC and has a right to express her opinion. The insinuation that he "let" her is insulting and demeaning.

Susan Moore: ... Are you recommending discrimination of people who rented the space and obtained their own insurance? The church knew it rented to this group. She was not invited to this completely legal event. It was distasteful on her husband’s part to attend and his wife puts out the video. Her UMC membership has nothing to do with the event and her cleverly done video.

Sally Stewart: ... absolutely I am. A church is within its rights to rent or not rent its property to whomever they want. During the civil rights movement churches refused to rent to racist groups. The WCA/GMC is not Alcoholics Anonymous or a daycare center. They are a divisive, group who is disloyal to the UMC and whose purpose is to separate from the denomination. No matter where the pastor or people of that church stand on the issue, a closed meeting of a group bent on dividing the denomination should never have been allowed to meet there. They should have chosen a neutral location. The DS has a responsibility to know what is happening at churches under his or her care. No meeting should be closed to them. You described the DS and his wife's attendance as "distasteful" and a stunt. The stunt was to have a meeting of a disharmonious, unfaithful, untrustworthy people on the property of the UMC. Choosing to do so was meant to intentionally agitate and aggravate. Was it a legal meeting? Perhaps. Was it done in a principled, righteous way? No, it was not.

Susan Moore: ... And are you abiding by the present Book of Discipline because the Bishops have not upheld it.

Sally Stewart: ... what I or the Bishops are doing or not doing is not relevant to this conversation. The issue is how the Florida chapter of the GMC is handling themselves. The bottom line is that no one is standing in the way of letting conservatives go. What I am objecting to is the duplicitous way they are doing it. The article that appeared the day before by Rev. [Joseph F.] DiPaulo decried the lack of transparency by the Commission with regard to the decision to postpone GC. The very next day we hear about a "closed meeting" where progressives are "not invited." So much for transparency.

UPDATED 10:26 a.m. March 10

The potential exit of United Methodists to the proposed Global Methodist Church took on a acrimonious tenor this week in the Florida Annual Conference after Northwest District Superintendent Wayne Wiatt and his wife Ramona were ejected from a meeting held at a United Methodist church.

Jay Therrell, president of the WCA's Florida chapter, said in his video that a series of informational and strategy meetings has been scheduled around the Florida Conference. Although the Book of Discipline says that all United Methodist meetings are to be open except in certain circumstances, Mr. Therrell said the GMC meetings were private and "legal" because the WCA paid rent to the church and took out insurance for the meeting.

The initial 1-1/2-minute video on the confrontation was posted by Ramona Wiatt on the Facebook page she shares with her husband. The Wiatts attempted to attend the meeting organized at Waukeenah United Methodist Church in Monticello, Fla., located near the Georgia state line about 27 miles northeast of the state capital of Tallahassee. 

From the Wiatts' Facebook page: "Ramona makes a video as we get thrown out of Waukeenah United Methodist Church. Jay Therrell is hosting an informational gathering about the Global Methodist Church and we are not welcomed!"

Therrell, a former district superintendent who has left the UMC, responded by posting the following video on the Facebook page of the Florida WCA chapter.

In response to an inquiry from UM Insight, Mr. Therrell sent the following statement, some of which he states in the video:

"Yesterday, March 9, the WCA-Florida began a series of regional gatherings for people who intend to join the Global Methodist Church. We clearly said so on the social media posts that we made including the following sentence, “The WCA-Florida will hold regional gatherings in each district over the next two weeks to offer guidance to churches wishing to depart The United Methodist Church for the Global Methodist Church.” Neither Wayne nor Ramona will be departing The UMC for the GMC. Accordingly, clearly this meeting was not for them.

"Anytime a district superintendent, bishop, or conference official is in a room, the power dynamics change. Every DS knows that. 

"Ms. Wiatt very clearly started videoing the participants inside panning across the room before I reminded Ms. Wiatt in Florida it is a felony to record people without their consent.  I observed the deputy approach both of us inside the church, and he acted appropriately at all times.  

"Once the Wiatts were outside the church, they continued to video record participants arriving and departing the meeting. Multiple people shared with me that Ms. Wiatt pointed her camera at them and they felt uncomfortable. This was an intimidation move to report back to Bishop Carter which churches and clergy were present.

"Indeed, Rev. Wiatt attended a meeting hosted by First UMC of Alachua a couple of months ago where I gave a presentation. The meeting was hosted by the local church, not the WCA-Flordia. I was there at their invitation. Accordingly, it was up to them to decide who were the appropriate attendees. The series of regional gatherings are hosted by the WCA-Flordia, not the local churches. We have paid rent and provided certificates of insurance. 

"Our WCA-Florida attorney, after a series of emails, clearly informed Bishop Ken Carter that neither he nor anyone else representing him would be welcome to attend. He was also advised that ordering someone to record any part of the meeting was also a felony in the state of Florida.

"We call upon Bishop Carter to simply let us go. When I was a DS on his Cabinet, he released the trust clause in multiple churches without ever requiring additional apportionments or pension liability payments. If he truly is acting with a heart of peace, why would he seek to intimidate others by recording their presence and why would he not offer departing traditionalists the same dignity he has offered other who departed? 

"Bishop Carter was a signer of the Protocol and has continually affirmed his support of it. Why not let churches go using its provisions within Florida. It is within his purview legally to do so."

Bishop Ken Carter, episcopal leader of the Florida Annual Conference, posted a lengthy response on Facebook after the videos appeared. He gave permission for United Methodist Insight to quote from his post:

"Yesterday one of our members, the wife of a district superintendent and her husband, the superintendent, were refused entrance into one of our United Methodist churches. I both publicly grieve the wrongness of this action and affirm the goodness and courage of Wayne N Ramona Wiatt.

"I turn now to the spirit of 1 Peter 3. 15, and I appeal to us to take the high road and 'give an account for the hope that is in us.'

"I have consistently and persistently stated who we are, as United Methodist disciples of Jesus Christ. This is a never-ending task, as there is misinformation out there, and we are mischaracterized."

Bishop Carter then recommended several resources, some of which he wrote, that focus on taking the "high road" of. behaviors during the transition while countering WCA propaganda. They are:

  • “The Cross and the Flame,” sermon at the beginning of the 2019 General Conference of the United Methodist Church.
  • “Defining and Growing an Inclusive, Gracious and Evangelical Center,” Florida Conference Table.
  • “Remembering Who We Are: Where Covenant, Justice and Unity Meet.”
  • “A Community of Love and Forgiveness," a devotional guide written by laity and clergy of the Florida Conference "who are seeking to live out our promises of baptism and membership," the bishop stated.
  • “The Narrative of the Continuing United Methodist Church,”  written and distributed by the Council of Bishops.
  • #BeUMC
  • Embracing The Wideness of God’s Mercy: The Shared Convictions of the United Methodist Church (Abingdon Press, 2018).
  • “Living in Connection in a Time of Waiting.”
  • “Mission Experiences of Compassion, Challenge and Hope: Lenten Devotions for 2022.”

Bishop Carter said that the resources he cited are available on the websites of the Florida and Western North Carolina conferences he serves as episcopal leader.

"We are scriptural, grace-filled and missional people who want a church for all, no exceptions," Bishop Carter wrote. "And we do not want to stand at the door and turn anyone away. Why? Because, Jesus did not turn us away."

Insight also reached out to Mrs. Wiatt for a reaction to Jay Therrell's video, but no reply was received by deadline.

As to the legitimacy of ejecting Rev. and Mrs. Wiatt from the meeting, the Rev. Jeremy Smith gave an explanation on his blog, Hacking Christianity (emphases are his):

"Violating the Original Use of Wesley’s Trust Clause

"John Wesley started the Methodist tradition with a trust clause in their founding documents of any Methodist church. It said that the church property belonged to the denomination, not the local church. The reason was that John Wesley and his leadership were never to be legally barred entry from their own churches.

"So fast forward 200 years, and that’s precisely what happened in Florida. Rev. Wayne Wiatt, the pastor in this video that was barred from entering, is the District Superintendent of the region where that church is located. That church is in his district, and the meeting was advertised to churches in his district. And as the district superintendent, if there ever was a legal matter where that local church would be signed away or legal action taken against it, Rev. Wiatt’s signature would be on that document, not the bishop’s! He’s literally the legal entity that owns that church!

"And he was removed from the meeting by a uniformed officer. At an event advertised to local United Methodists to attend, and run by a non-United Methodist former clergyperson who is advocating people leave The United Methodist Church. No matter who was renting from who or whose officers they were hired by, the DS has a legal right to be there, and Therrell, with a law degree, knows it.

"Unbelievable."

Rev. Smith also commented on reports that the Wesleyan Covenant Association is holding secret meetings elsewhere around the denomination.

"A growing problem

"The same day this all happened, the main Wesleyan Covenant Association website ran a column by a now-former member of the General Commission on General Conference, lambasting its secret meetings and alleging backroom deals. I’m sorry, but you really don’t get to complain about secret meetings when your own chapter is holding them!

"Contrast the Florida Man with the Oklahomans. A megachurch held a disaffiliation open meeting, livestreamed so this former Oklahoman could watch, and did the whole thing in open transparency. I’m certain that I, of all people, could have attended in person. I can be offended by the content, but the process was open and that’s a healthy alternative to the above.

"The Wesleyan Covenant Association has always had an unhealthy obsession with secrecy, nefarious actions, and horrid theology that this blog has documented for 6 years. This is more of the same, and I’m hopeful that the rank-and-file WCA members wake up that their leadership is leading them astray.

"May the coming days find more transparency as to what was said and why it was so important to bar the DS from attending."

Cynthia B. Astle serves as Editor of United Methodist Insight, which she founded in 2011. This article may be reproduced elsewhere by emailing Insight for permission.