Trending
(Editor's note: This is the second installment in a two-part series on how congregational disaffiliations affected the United Methodist Church in the denomination's former Ohio Valley District. Sunday's installment offered a look at the process.)
The widespread congregational disaffiliations felt throughout the United Methodist Church in the U.S. have resulted in about 7,600 congregations leaving the denomination since the disaffiliation provision was added to the church's Book of Discipline in 2019.
The mass movement was not so much a schism as it was a "splintering," said the Rev. Kelly Brown, co-superintendent of the South Forest District in Eastern Ohio in the UMC's East Ohio Conference. Though many congregations transferred to the traditionally minded Global Methodist Church, a majority have remained independent or sought affiliation with other denominations.
Discontentment
In the Ohio Valley District -- now part of the South Forest District -- 51 congregations have disaffiliated since 2019, with 49 completing the process in 2023. Now-disaffiliated pastors cite a growing attitude in the UMC to accept practicing homosexual clergy or officiate same-sex wedding ceremonies -- actions prohibited in the denomination's discipline -- and the unwillingness of denominational leadership to punish those offenses.
"As a pastor, I could not in good conscience remain a part of an increasingly corrupt institution, and the vast majority of our church membership agreed," said the Rev. Clint Quillen of Wintersville Methodist Church. Members there voted 154-16 to disaffiliate and dropped the "United" from the name in July.
To disaffiliate, individual congregations needed to hold a church conference. A passing vote at the conference required a 67 percent majority with two-thirds of members present. Annual conferences, under the authority of a bishop, could add requirements to disaffiliate, which the EOC did not do.
Also disaffiliated is Harmony Church of Mingo Junction, which voted 100 percent to leave. The Rev. Sam Davis, who is in his 16th year at Harmony, said he is grateful to Bishop Tracy Malone, noting that other conference's bishops made disaffiliating "more arduous and more expensive."
Staying the course
Congregations were not required to hold a vote for disaffiliation, with some churches avoiding the path for various reasons. Among those churches was Carrollton First United Methodist Church.
The Rev. Kimberly Arbaugh, Carrollton's pastor, said some church members hoped to have a vote. However, Carrollton's discipleship board -- made up of legacy church members, elected during the congregation's annual church conference -- "through a lot of prayer and discernment of their own decided (that) taking a vote was not in the best interest of the church."
The decision for Carrollton came down to uncertainty of the UMC denomination's path, Arbaugh said. As it stands, the Book of Discipline forbids same-sex wedding ceremonies and practicing homosexual clergy. With churches not currently being forced wholesale by the UMC to accept these practices, Arbaugh said, the discipleship board found it "very premature" to make any big decision.
"We are focused on moving forward in ministry where God is calling us at this time, and we're not trying to get caught up in the 'What if's' and 'What could be's.'"
A comparatively small group left Carrollton as a result, though Arbaugh said this number has been outweighed by new members the church has taken in.
Disaffiliating congregations were required to pay the UMC any unpaid apportionments and the next 12 month's apportionments to cover clergy's retirement. Disaffiliating clergy were not permitted to remain on the UMC's medical insurance plan -- a pivotal factor for some -- and any who join the Global Methodist Church cannot minister in UMC churches.
The Rev. Bob Carson was appointed as the pastor of two UMC churches in Coshocton County after his former congregation, Church of the Cross in East Springfield, voted to disaffiliate without him. Carson, who decided to remain in the UMC partly because of his retirement plan, said there was significant "in-house pressure" to disaffiliate at Church of the Cross, which had only about three votes against disaffiliating.
Carson believes that a handful of Ohio Valley ministers pushed vigorously for disaffiliation, and they had an influence on his congregation. Those individuals were concerned about the human sexuality issue in the UMC in other U.S. regions, he said, but the notion that churches in the Ohio Valley -- where it is not a prevalent issue -- should also disaffiliate is "blown out of proportion."
"I don't know of any pressure from our (EOC) bishop … on me or anyone else to do anything that I don't feel led to do."
Different directions
Out of the roughly 7,600 disaffiliating congregations, about 3,000 have joined the Global Methodist Church, including several within the OVD. Launched on May 1, 2022, and carrying no trust clause for property, the GMC is awaiting its 2024 General Conference to assign bishops, but it has in place its conferences. Ordained elders in the UMC have had their ordinations recognized by the GMC if they transferred to the new denomination.
A member of the GMC after a 99-1 vote by his congregation, the Rev. Tom Scott of the disaffiliated Richmond Methodist Church said he still has colleagues in the UMC who stayed for physical or financial reasons. Others, he said, are awaiting potential separation protocols within the UMC during its 2024 General Conference.
Several unsatisfied with their congregation's vote left and found themselves without a church. For those wishing to stay with the UMC, Brown said, the denomination has established "oasis communities," which utilize public spaces like libraries or restaurants to foster community. It allowed churches to be designated as "lighthouse churches," which are trained to provide a new church home while displaced UMC individuals discern their next moves.
Carrollton First UMC is part of the lighthouse program, and Arbaugh attends monthly training with other church leaders, learning about topics like hospitality and updating church websites to be more user-friendly, and coaching sessions between each meeting help churches make plans and put them into practice, Arbaugh said.
Church future
2023 was a "difficult year," recalled Brown, but the UMC and East Ohio Conference will move forward "in the way we're called." The EOC itself underwent a re-districting, effective Jan. 1, that decreased its districts from 10 to four, consolidating the former Ohio Valley District into the new South Forest District. The re-districting was planned prior to the largescale disaffiliations, Brown said, and it eliminated the Ohio Valley District's Wintersville office.
The disaffiliations mean fewer UMC churches in neighborhoods and fewer churches marked with the UMC's cross and flames, Brown said. However, he added that the disaffiliations will not affect the work of Urban Mission Ministries, which is supported by Ohio Valley UMC churches.
In a disaffiliation FAQ, the EOC addressed whether congregations that chose to stay in the UMC must now approve of LGBTQ+ clergy or perform same-sex wedding ceremonies. In the FAQ, the conference states, "No congregation will be required to receive an appointment where the clergyperson will not be accepted well by the congregation. Just as they do now, the bishop and appointive cabinet will consult with churches and do their best to match the gifts of clergy with the leadership needs of the congregation."
The FAQ maintains that clergy have discretion over which wedding ceremonies they officiate, contingent on "their conscience," and "no church will be compelled to host a wedding not in keeping with their beliefs."
It remains to be seen which direction the UMC will go regarding these issues, but some disaffiliated pastors predict a marked shift toward open LGBTQ+ acceptance soon.
For churches that have chosen to stay independent, many will simply continue to do what they've always done, disaffiliated or not.
Davis of the now-independent Harmony Church of Mingo Junction said the church will yield to scripture and "love others but not promote and condone sin … whatever sin it is."
Quillen, who has been pastor of Wintersville Methodist Church since 2000, said in a statement: "Our mission remains to connect with God, grow in faith and serve in love, and our vision continues to be a beacon of Christian love, hope and compassion to our world."