Disaffiliation ends, regionalization moves forward

• General Conference delegates voted to delete the church disaffiliation policy from the Book of Discipline.
• They required annual conferences to set a reaffiliation policy for churches that want to return.
• They also passed the last of the regionalization petitions.

The United Methodist Church's focus on disaffiliation has come to an end and a new push for regionalization is just beginning.

By a vote of 516 to 203, General Conference delegates supported the end of a disaffiliation policy added by the special 2019 General Conference and used by about a quarter of U.S. churches to leave The United Methodist Church.

"The season of disaffiliation ends today," said Lonnie Chafin, a delegate from the Northern Illinois Conference and chair of the Conferences legislative committee. The committee supported and brought to the floor the petition that deletes Paragraph 2553 from the Book of Discipline. The paragraph only ever appeared in a digital addendum to the Discipline.

"Passing this petition will mean Paragraph 2553 will never appear in a printed edition of the Book of Discipline," he told his fellow delegates, "and will send a message to our congregations that it's time to speak of how we come together and share the love of God."

During the same afternoon session, delegates approved by a vote of 629 to 96 a reaffiliation policy to welcome churches that wish to rejoin The United Methodist Church.

Delegates also adopted by a vote of 593 to 139 the last of the regionalization petitions aimed at giving church regions equal standing in decision-making.

But each proposal brought debate. Ahead of General Conference, the theologically conservative advocacy groups Good News, Wesleyan Covenant Association and Africa Initiative announced their intent to advocate for disaffiliation to be extended and expanded. The groups also opposed regionalization.

Nevertheless, unlike during the special 2019 General Conference, these groups did not see their legislative goals prevail.

Eliminating disaffiliation

The 2019 special General Conference adopted Paragraph 2553, which allowed congregations to depart the denomination with their property "for reasons of conscience" related to homosexuality, if they met certain procedural and financial requirements.

The church law essentially offered a limited way for congregations to gain release from The United Methodist Church's centuries-old trust clause, which states that church property is held in trust for the benefit of the entire denomination.

Because of actions taken by the 2019 General Conference, Paragraph 2553 only applied in the U.S., but some parts of Europe used their authority under the denomination's constitution to adapt the Discipline to allow congregations to leave.

Under the disaffiliation policy, more than 7,600 U.S. churches left before it expired at the end of last year.

But, as Chafin noted introducing the policy's deletion, congregations' conversations around whether to stay or go were often contentious and heart-wrenching.

"Congregations have been in conflict," he said. "Conferences have had to divert attention away from our mission and spend considerable time and energy on disaffiliations."

Departures accelerated with the 2022 launch of the Global Methodist Church, a theologically conservative denomination formed with the support of Good News and the Wesleyan Covenant Association. Most of the churches that left the United Methodist fold were theologically conservative.

Many argued that it was only fair that the disaffiliation policy be extended in Africa.

However, the Rev. Guy Nyembo of the North Katanga Conference in Congo said through an interpreter that many African United Methodists want to remain part of the denomination that nurtured them and their ancestors.

"I want to say we are against disaffiliations from The United Methodist Church," he said. But he added: "Please don't inflict pain on our churches."

Dixie Brewster, a delegate from the Great Plains Conference, spoke of her fear that churches troubled by the changes passed by General Conference will be trapped.

"I speak in favor of disaffiliation," she said. "I'm very nervous because I want a place for our conservative churches with traditional values to have a way to go peacefully. I don't want them to be caught up in our court system."

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UM News has photographers on the plenary floor of General Conference 2024 and at special events and meetings throughout the session. View photos from each day on Flickr.

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Welcoming churches back

Far less controversial was the policy inviting churches to reaffiliate.

"With a spirit of grace, we welcome those churches which have disaffiliated or withdrawn to rejoin The United Methodist Church," the newly adopted policy says. "Where applicable, every annual conference shall have a policy of reaffiliation for the churches seeking to return to the connection."

Delegates amended the petition to require that returning churches affirm their commitment to the denomination's trust clause.

"I believe we need to leave the door open," said Helen Ryde, a delegate from the Western North Carolina Conference and an organizer with the advocacy group Reconciling Ministries Network. "This movement to bring our church to a new place has never, ever been about asking people to leave."

Regionalization

Over the past three days, delegates have passed the last three Worldwide Regionalization petitions that aim to put the different geographic regions of the denomination on equal footing.

Under the legislation, the U.S. and each central conference — church regions in Africa, Europe and the Philippines — would become regional conferences with the same authority to adapt the Book of Discipline, the denomination's policy book, for more missional effectiveness.

At present, only central conferences have that authority under the denomination's constitution to adapt the Discipline as missional needs and different legal contexts require.

Much of regionalization — including enabling the creation of a U.S. regional conference, which General Conference passed April 30 — is contingent upon the ratification of a constitutional amendment. Ratification requires a total of at least two-thirds of annual conference voters support the amendment.

General Conference already passed that amendment with 78% of the vote on April 25. Now, it will be up to annual conference voters whether the regionalization plan comes to fruition.

The ratification process by the annual conferences for the constitutional amendments in this petition shall begin no later than 30 days after the adjournment of the postponed 2020 General Conference, which means U.S. annual conferences could begin voting on the amendments in June.

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The Council of Bishops likely will announce the results of the vote late next year.

But the petition debated on May 1 will take effect regardless of whether the constitutional amendment is ratified.

It creates a legislative committee at General Conference that would deal with solely U.S. matters, similar to the Standing Committee on Central Conference Matters. Anything passed by the committee would have to go before the full General Conference plenary. If regionalization is ratified, the legislation creating the committee will expire.

The Rev. Jerry Kulah, a delegate from Liberia and leader in the Africa Initiative, said regionalization is "unacceptable."

"You cannot claim to be one United Methodist Church when you compartmentalize," he said.

Uchena Awa, a delegate from the New England Conference, said the U.S. should have the same level of autonomy enjoyed by the African central conferences.

The Rev. Dee Stickley-Miner, a delegate from West Ohio Conference and a standing committee member, anticipates that regionalization will ultimately strengthen the denomination's connection.

"It's going to allow us to commit to trusting each other and giving each other freedom without trying to dictate to one another," she told United Methodist News.

"It's a way of being able to live out the grace of Jesus Christ."

Hahn is assistant news editor for UM News. Contact her at (615) 742-5470 or [email protected]. To read more United Methodist news, subscribe to the free daily or weekly Digests.

• Disaffiliation
• General Conference
• General Conference 2020