A church law that some have pushed as an exit path from The United Methodist Church can only be used to move property — not members — to another denomination, the Judicial Council ruled.
“Paragraph 2548.2 establishes a process for the limited purpose of deeding and transferring church property to another denomination but does not apply to the membership of a local church,” the top church court said in Decision 1449, referring to a paragraph in the denomination’s Book of Discipline.
The Judicial Council further ruled in the decision released Aug. 23 that The United Methodist Church must already have an existing agreement with the other denomination for such a transfer to occur.
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No such agreement currently exists with the Global Methodist Church, a new theologically conservative denomination that launched this year.
Backers of the new denomination have been trying to compel United Methodist annual conferences — church regional bodies — to allow churches to use the measure to withdraw from The United Methodist Church.
The Judicial Council’s ruling disputes that the measure can be used for that purpose. The process in Paragraph 2548.2 “may not be used as a pathway for local churches to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church.”
At issue in Decision 1449 is how United Methodist leaders should apply Paragraph 2548.2 in the Book of Discipline, the denomination’s law book. The provision, which has been part of the Discipline since 1948, allows an annual conference to direct the local church trustees to deed property to one of the Pan-Methodist denominations or another evangelical denomination.
Paragraph 2548.2 goes on to say such a transfer must take place “under an allocation, exchange of property, or comity agreement.” The church statute specifies that such an agreement must be committed in writing and “signed and approved by the duly qualified and authorized representatives of both parties concerned.”
After the Global Methodist Church launched on May 1, the United Methodist Council of Bishops asked the church court a series of questions about the provision.
Put another way, the church court ruled that the Discipline gives the Council of Bishops the authority to negotiate with other denominations and draft ecumenical agreements. However, General Conference — The United Methodist Church’s top lawmaking body — must approve the agreement before it can take effect.
The Judicial Council said that Paragraph 2548.2 may only be used with other processes in the Discipline that change the membership and ministries of local churches, such as interdenominational local church mergers and ecumenical shared ministries.
With all the complications surrounding Paragraph 2548.2, the Judicial Council pointed to another provision — Paragraph 2553 — that General Conference enacted with the express purpose of “Disaffiliation of Local Churches Over Issues Related to Human Sexuality.”
Under Paragraph 2553, congregations can leave with property and members if they meet certain financial and procedural obligations. That is different from Paragraph 2548.2, which solely deals with property.
“Local churches may not circumvent the requirements of ¶ 2553 by arguing that their departure comes under some other paragraph in the Discipline,” said Judicial Council member Beth Capen. “Nor may they rely upon potential proposed legislation that might be considered at a future General Conference (such as those references that were made to the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation). Proposed legislation has no bearing or effect.”
excerpt from an article by Heather Hahn, assistant news editor, UMNews
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