By Michael GryboskiMain Church Editor Wednesday, October 30, 2024

The United Methodist Church’s highest court has ruled that congregations seeking to leave the denomination over theological differences cannot do so through a church closing provision.

Recently, many congregations have left the UMC through a Book of Discipline measure known as Paragraph 2549, which focuses on how to officially close church property.

The United Methodist Judicial Council issued a ruling last Saturday, known as Decision Number 1512which stated that congregations cannot use paragraph 2549 to leave the UMC.

Get our latest news for FREE

Sign up to receive daily/weekly emails featuring top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know.

According to the decision, the UMC Trust Clause, which holds that all church property is held for the benefit of the entire denomination, cannot be ignored as it would be if paragraph 2549 were used to disaffiliate.

“Connectionalism is a fundamental principle of the United Methodist constitutional system of government, and the Trust Clause is its fundamental element,” the ruling states.

“Disaffiliation is a radical departure from connectionalism, and therefore church property may be exempt from the Trust Clause only to the extent authorized by Church law.”

The Judicial Council went on to state that paragraph 2549 “cannot be interpreted or used as legislation permitting the ‘gracious exit’ of local churches because it applies to church closures and property sales, not disaffiliation.”

“Paragraph 2549 does not give an annual conference disciplinary authority to close a local church and then provide all assets to departing parishioners,” the ruling continued.

“Paragraph 2549 is not an appropriate provision of the Discipline to exit properly. The provisions of ¶2549 do not align with what is requested, which is ‘disaffiliation’ and asking that the trust clause be broken.”

The Judicial Council’s ruling came in response to an official inquiry from the Kentucky UMC Conference and the Alabama-West Florida UMC Conference.

The Kentucky Conference published a statement Tuesday that, as a result of the Judicial Council’s decision, the regional body “cannot offer a path toward separation from the United Methodist Church for local churches.”

“Of course, as has always been the case, people are free to pursue the expression of faith they choose,” the conference stated.

“We continue to believe that the United Methodist Church is a place for all people and remain committed to our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”

For decades, the UMC debated whether to change its rules to allow the blessing of same-sex unions, the ordination of non-celibate homosexuals, and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups, and finally did so at General Conference earlier this year .

At a special session of the General Conference held in February 2019, delegates voted to add paragraph 2553 to the Book of Discipline. The measure, which expired at the end of 2023, created a process for congregations to leave the UMC over the sexual ethics debate.

About 7,500 congregations disaffiliated from the denomination during that time, and thousands joined the newly launched, theologically conservative Global Methodist Church.

However, even after paragraph 2553 expired, many churches continued to leave the denomination through Paragraph 2549 from the Book of Discipline, which deals with the closing of churches.

Under the measure, a district superintendent can recommend that a local church be closed if it “no longer serves the purpose for which it was organized or incorporated.”

From there, conference leaders may declare the property closed and may then “retain, sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the property of a closed local church in accordance with the direction of the annual conference, if applicable.” .