DALLAS -- The regional governing bodies of the United Methodist Church are called annual conferences. They typically meet once a year to conduct church business. But two of those Texas conferences will meet this weekend in special sessions to approve the withdrawal of potentially hundreds of churches from the UMC.
After a controversial stance against same sex marriages and LGBTQ clergy members was upheld by a slim majority in 2019, congregations across the country are seeking to leave the denomination through a meticulous process called disaffiliation. Although the two conferences meeting this weekend do not cover the Dallas-Fort Worth area, up to 439 churches across Texas could be granted approval to leave the denomination along with their properties.
In this process, the UMC is allowing churches to leave the denomination while retaining their properties and assets as long as certain steps are taken before the end of 2023. Church congregations must first reach a 2/3 majority vote in favor before being approved by their annual conference.
Many conservative congregations are leaving UMC, believing the stance passed in 2019 has not been enforced. However, some churches deny leaving over LGBTQ inclusion and point to a variety of differences from finances to theology.
The two regions meeting Saturday are theTexas Annual Conference, based out of Houston covering east Texas and Tyler, and theNorthwest Texas Annual Conference encompasses the Texas panhandle and Lubbock. They are two of six conferences in the state.
In the Northwest Conference, more than half of its roughly 200 churches are seeking approval to officially disaffiliate, a spokesperson confirmed to The Dallas Morning News. If approved at the specially called session this Saturday in Lubbock, 145 churches would sever their relationship with the UMC promptly at the end of this year.
In the Texas Conference, 294 out of its 598 churches are seeking the same approval Saturday. The Texas Annual Conference is the third largest in the country, according to its director of communications Shannon Martin.
In a written statement, Bishop Scott J. Jones said he is praying for those who are leaving and he is "encouraged by the hope of new beginnings for all of our United Methodist Churches."
UM News reported last week annual conferences across the country have approved the withdrawal of 1,314 churches from its over 30,000 total since 2019.
In September, 81 churches in the Central Texas Conference, which covers Fort Worth, were approved to disaffiliate in a special session. The conference currently has 185 congregations, and at least two more have voted to leave.
Encompassing the Dallas area is North Texas Conference which includes 276 churches. While fifty-four churches have entered the process, only six have held a vote and reached the two-thirds threshold vote to leave. Ten others decided to remain with the UMC before going to a vote, as of November 2.
Recently, White's Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake, part of the Central Texas Conference, voted to go through with the disaffiliation process.
White's Chapel is in one of the top five largest United Methodist Churches in the country and among the larger megachurches in Texas with more than 15,000 members and over 4,000 weekly churchgoers.
St. Andrew United Methodist, a megachurch in Plano with the North Texas Conference, also announced its intentions to disaffiliate following a decision from its executive committee in October.
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