Along with many other UMC churches, we are in a time of Discernment over the question of whether our church should stay in the UMC denomination or disaffiliate, which means to separate from the denomination. The Discernment Team was formed by our Administrative Council and has been tasked with researching, discussing, praying and leading our church through this Discernment as it relates to the growing tension in the United Methodist Church around violations of church law concerning human sexuality

In order to disaffiliate, a church must take a vote of its members at a church conference, and that vote must be at least a two-thirds majority vote in favor of disaffiliation. All professing members at that church conference are eligible to vote. The Discernment Team does not have the authority to make a decision; the work of the team is to assist the congregation through the process.

St. Paul is in the discernment phase. Our Conference requires us to have an Exploration Meeting during this phase, led by our District Superintendent and our Conference Treasurer. Our District Superintendent has set the Exploration Meeting for Sunday, April 16 at 6:00 pm at East Campus. According to Conference Treasurer, David Stotts, St. Paul will have until August 15 to enter the Official Disaffiliation Process, which begins when the certification form provided by the Conference is timely submitted in writing by the lay leadership to the District Superintendent. If our church does decide to enter the Official Disaffilliation Process, our Church Conference disaffiliation vote would be set by the District Superintendent no later than October 25, 2023.

Yes, St. Paul would have the right to retain its buildings and property if we vote to disaffiliate and have that vote approved by the Mississippi Annual Conference.

Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline was passed at the 2019 General Conference and provides the framework that must be followed by a church that wishes to separate (disaffiliate) from the denomination. This paragraph allows churches to disaffiliate for very limited reasons, namely “for reasons of conscience regarding a change in the requirements and provisions of The Book of Discipline related to the practice of homosexuality or the ordination or marriage of self-avowed practicing homosexuals as resolved and adopted by the 2019 General Conference, or the actions or inactions of its annual conference related to these issues which follow.” See Par. 2553 of Addendum to The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2016.

Paragraph 2553 expires on December 31, 2023 and “shall not be used after that date.” See Par. 2553 of Addendum to The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church, 2016.

The trust clause is a historic, universal claim made by the United Methodist Church and written into the church’s articles of incorporation in an effort to retain ownership rights of local church properties. St. Paul would be automatically released from this claim upon a final vote for disaffiliation by the Mississippi Annual Conference.

No- Paragraph 2553 requires a disaffiliating church to pay a reasonable amount to disaffiliate. Churches must pay the current year plus one more year of apportionments. Churches also must pay their share of the unfunded portion of the clergy pension, which supports our retired pastors & spouses. These are obligations that St. Paul would be paying anyway if we were to stay in the denomination.

If we were to choose to disaffiliate, we would become an independent church. As an independent church, we would have the freedom to employ pastors at our own discretion. We would also have the option of joining another denomination if we were to choose to do that. The Discernment Team is not yet familiar with the rules of hiring pastors that any other denomination may have. The Discernment Team believes that we could keep our staff regardless of our decision.

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church has been the same on this matter since 1972, and yet it is disregarded by progressive clergy and congregations across the denomination with no accountability or enforcement.

Paragraph 304.3 of The Discipline says, “The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore, self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.”

Paragraph 161.C of the Social Principles in the Book of Discipline says, “We affirm the sanctity of the marriage covenant that is expressed in love, mutual support, personal commitment, and shared fidelity between a man and a woman. We believe that God’s blessing rests upon such marriage, whether or not there are children of the union. We reject social norms that assume different standards for women than for men in marriage. We support laws in civil society that define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

Absolutely, yes! St. Paul views all people as individuals of sacred worth. Therefore, all people are welcome at our church.

After Bishop Sharma Lewis was appointed to the Mississippi Annual Conference in January 2023, she set a Special Called Annual Conference for December 9, 2023. The purpose of the Special Called Conference is to give churches another opportunity to come before the Annual Conference to seek approval to disaffiliate.

According to a list being independently compiled by Mississippi Pastor Lauren Porter, the data on churches leaving the United Methodist church to become independent churches or to join other denominations is as follows: Sixty-seven (67) churches left the denomination by July 15, 2022 using either the Disaffiliation or Church Closure paragraphs. An additional one hundred forty-five (145) churches have voted to disaffiliate and will seek the approval at Mississippi Annual Conference in June 2023. That is a total of 212 churches that have voted to leave the denomination.

Since Bishop Lewis announced the Special Called Conference for Dec. 9, 2023, more churches, like St. Paul, have begun discernment, and some have requested to enter the official disaffiliation process. We do not know yet how many churches will have voted to disaffiliate and to seek approval at Annual Conference in December 2023. The list that has been compiled by pastor Lauren Porter is attached at this link.

The Judicial Council recently ruled in Decision 1449 that 2553 is the only method available for disaffiliation. They specifically ruled that the Transfer paragraph 2548.2 is not available for disaffiliation, and they stated that no other paragraph of the Book of Discipline is available for disaffiliation either. Six annual conferences or their trustees have offered alternative paths to exit after 2553 expires. The Mississippi Conference Board of Trustees has proposed a plan to use the Church Closure paragraph 2459 and to use the same financial costs that 2553 uses. That plan will be before the Mississippi Annual Conference in June 2023. (That plan would be for Jan. 1, 2024 until the last day of Mississippi Annual Conference session 2025.) This plan has not been approved by the Annual Conference, where it could be opposed, and has not been approved of or ruled as constitutional by the Judicial Council. If a church should desire to disaffiliate, the only tested path is disaffiliating using 2553, which expires on December 31, 2023.

There has been a steep decline in membership of our denomination in the USA. American membership has declined to about 6.5 million, from a peak of 11 million in the 1960s.

https://apnews.com/article/religion-gay-rights-f3fc3ec9e1f39501495d227d5a0963f8

Average attendance in the Mississippi Annual Conference has decreased every year since 2012. (No data provided prior to 2012.)

View the attendance graph here