"About 90% of the more than 4,500 votes cast were in favor of leaving the United Methodist Church, the church council said." - Dallas megachurch overwhelmingly votes to leave UMC
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Highland Park says it will leave the UMC
- Thread starter rockytopva
- Start date
Ascetic X
Well-Known Member
While hundreds of other congregations have left the UMC in the last five years mainly over disagreements about human sexuality, the HPUMC departure is different. It is a direct assault on Methodist polity, namely the kind of “connectionalism” envision by John Wesleuy, founder of Methodism.
Within this framework, all Methodist churches are connected to one another and accountable to each other through denominational structures. That includes a provision called the “trust clause” that says all church property is held “in trust” for the denomination. It also includes the practice of an itinerant clergy — meaning ordained clergy are moved from church to church usually on a two- to four-year cycle.
But exceptions have been made for the largest UMC churches, including HPUMC, which has had a stronger than usual role in selecting its own clergy and then keeping them beyond the normal rotation. Also, because of the extraordinary value of HPUMC’s property and buildings and other financial assets, church lay leaders have been keen to erect a firewall between the church and denomination.
Within this framework, all Methodist churches are connected to one another and accountable to each other through denominational structures. That includes a provision called the “trust clause” that says all church property is held “in trust” for the denomination. It also includes the practice of an itinerant clergy — meaning ordained clergy are moved from church to church usually on a two- to four-year cycle.
But exceptions have been made for the largest UMC churches, including HPUMC, which has had a stronger than usual role in selecting its own clergy and then keeping them beyond the normal rotation. Also, because of the extraordinary value of HPUMC’s property and buildings and other financial assets, church lay leaders have been keen to erect a firewall between the church and denomination.