More than 100 churches recently left the South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church without the usual attention that hundreds of departing congregations across the nation have received in the last few years.
For decades the global denomination has been divided over LGBTQ rights and other theological issues.
At its historic General Conference, which was held in Charlotte earlier this year, the denomination removed language in Methodist Church laws that for decades has said homosexuality was “incompatible” with Christian teaching.
Kelly Roberson, a spokeswoman for the South Georgia conference, which covers the area south of Macon, said 106 churches were approved to leave the south conference in a special called virtual session on Aug. 17.
Churches that wanted to disaffiliate for reasons of conscience related to human sexuality had before Dec. 31, 2023 to do so and be able to leave with their property after certain financial obligations were met.
Each departing congregation has until Sept. 30 to pay pension liabilities, two years of apportionments and any legal fees and conduct an exit walk through of the property with the district superintendent, according to the conference’s website.
Overall, between 2019 and 2023, the denomination lost a quarter of its churches in the schism over LGBTQ rights and theological issues.
Robertson said the conference was not using the term disaffiliation this time, but departures.
Since 2022, more than 330 churches have left the UMC’s North Georgia Conference. That represents about 38% of the conference’s churches. The smaller South Georgia Conference of the UMC has lost about half of the congregations since 2020.
Some of the disaffiliated churches became independent, while others joined other Methodist denominations, including the conservative Global Methodist Church, which launched on May 1, 2022.
Why didn’t those congregations who wanted to leave do so earlier?
“I won’t speak for them,” Robertson said. “I will say this, Bishop (David) Graves had asked people to stay until the General Conference so they could have good information and facts.”
Although the conference is smaller, “in general, we’re looking forward to what’s new and what God has in store for the South Georgia annual conference,” she said. “We want to figure out who we are as a general conference.”
Bishop Robin Dease will oversee the merged North Georgia and South Georgia conferences.
In a recent message to United Methodists, Dease said that the conferences were “reweaving our connection with one another. Something that has been long overdue. Our work is never meant to be done in isolation but in community and that will be our way going forward in the communities that encompass the United Methodist Church in Georgia. From this moment on my conversation will be about being One Georgia. There will be no “us and them.”
Dease said because of financial constraints, offices will see more cooperation with one another and with shared services.
Dease announced that her office will be located in Macon beginning Jan. 1.
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