White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake to vote for disaffiliation
.JPG "An audience gathers Christmas show White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in in this 2011 file photo. The church is considering disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church.")
White’s Chapel United Methodist Church in Southlake will vote to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church Nov. 7, a church official said in a statement.
The church has been a fixture in the community for at least 150 years. It became an arm of the United Methodist Church in 1968.
White’s Chapel is one of the larger in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. It will join 81 other disaffiliated churches in the Central Texas Conference if the vote passes, the church’s chief of staff Judy Hunt said in a statement.
A statement on White Chapel’s website pointed back to division in the greater UMC as the reason for its potential separation and said the church was “experiencing the UMC as a broken institution.”
Much of the UMC’s discussion around disaffiliation surrounds issues of sexuality. St. Andrew United Methodist in Plano just recently decided to disaffiliate as well.
“At the heart of this disagreement are conflicting beliefs about the very purpose, nature, and mission of the Church,” Hunt wrote in a text. “The discussions we are having are rooted in our understandings of what it means for us to be the Church — in other words, the point, the ‘why’ of everything that we do? The consideration is as practical and missional as it is theological. “
Hunt said the United Methodist Church presented churches with ways they could leave the denomination without a battle over property or beliefs. It subsequently brought on conversation at White’s Chapel about where the center of ministry occurs, and White’s Chapel officials believe that it is at the local church level.
After a 30-day period of prayer, Hunt said church officials didn’t feel like they could remain United Methodist nor disaffiliate and join the Global Methodist Church.
“In late summer of this year, our senior pastors were inspired with an alternative form of Methodist connection which would affiliate like-minded congregations,” Hunt wrote. “Our Administrative Board voted to formally enter into conversation regarding disaffiliation with our Annual Conference and, ultimately, passed a resolution to bring it to the congregation for a vote.”
Hunt said some members of the congregation were sad about the idea of separating, but that church officials were excited about what could potentially lay ahead.
“Either way, White’s Chapel will continue to be unabashedly Methodist and continue with our vision: to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and to make more deeply committed followers of the Jesus by inviting folks to take their first step (or their next step) in a relationship with Him,” Hunt wrote.
This story was originally published October 27, 2022 at 2:39 PM.
