{"id":1565343,"date":"2022-07-21T20:04:16","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T00:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1565343"},"modified":"2022-07-21T20:04:24","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T00:04:24","slug":"more-than-100-florida-churches-fleeing-denomination-over-lgbtq-issues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/more-than-100-florida-churches-fleeing-denomination-over-lgbtq-issues\/","title":{"rendered":"More Than 100 Florida Churches Fleeing Denomination Over LGBTQ Issues"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmore-than-100-florida-churches-fleeing-denomination-over-lgbtq-issues%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1565343&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>More than 100 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/florida\">Florida<\/a> churches have joined a lawsuit against a regional body of the United Methodist Church (UMC), seeking fair terms for leaving the denomination over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/lgbtq\">LGBTQ<\/a> issues.<\/p>\n<p>The group of congregations filed the suit on July 14 against the UMC\u2019s Florida Annual Conference in the Circuit Court for the Eighth Judicial Circuit for Bradford County, Civil Division.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Annual Conference has taken the position that it is entitled to keep the Grace UMC Property \u2014 which was owned and paid for by Grace UMC long before The UMC and the Annual Conference ever existed \u2014 unless Grace UMC pays a substantial payment of money as unilaterally determined by the Annual Conference Defendant,\u201d the suit reads.<\/p>\n<p>Grace United Methodist Church of Lawtey, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, argued it should not be forced to buy its property from the regional body because it purchased the location before the denomination was founded in 1968.<\/p>\n<p>The Florida churches are represented by the National Center for Life &#038; Liberty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe reason the lawsuit was filed was that the 106 churches believed that the Florida Annual Conference is not being equitable in creating a split that they\u2019re able to successfully minister in the communities for the Gospel,\u201d the group\u2019s CFO Jonathan Bailie <a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianpost.com\/news\/over-100-florida-churches-sue-umc-over-disaffiliation-process.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">told<\/a> the Christian Post.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe churches are frustrated with the annual conference\u2019s violations of the Book of Discipline and refusal to honor the Traditional Plan as outlined in the 2019 General Conference,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The issue hit a high point when Kenneth Carter, Resident Bishop of the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church, refused to enforce actions against an openly lesbian bishop in St. Petersburg, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tallahassee.com\/story\/news\/2022\/07\/15\/united-methodist-church-florida-lawsuit-gay-lgbtq-same-sex-marriage-bishop-schism\/10071027002\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to<\/a> The Tallahassee Democrat.<\/p>\n<p>When Florida churches sought to break away from the state\u2019s governing body, they were told they would be forced to pay a large fine, claiming \u201call properties\u201d are held in the trust of the denomination.<\/p>\n<p>Carter responded with a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.flumc.org\/newsdetail\/dear-clergy-and-laity-of-the-florida-conference-16569607?fs=e&#038;s=cl&#038;fbclid=IwAR3i_7MnnQYTBJ69w2P8ccOzUZ1lVBiDMjVhGdn8UvTZaAUbGLw-fENHIIM&#038;fs=e&#038;s=cl\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday following the lawsuit\u2019s filing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are deeply grieved by this, as we seek to be a church united in love and in mission,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Florida Annual Conference is committed to providing a \u2018gracious exit\u2019 for those churches that wish to depart, pursuant to our common process outlined in The Book of Discipline, and have been trying to engage those churches in that process,\u201d Carter added.<\/p>\n<p>The statement also expressed concern about the ability to provide pensions for retired clergy and support denominational groups such as children\u2019s homes and camps.<\/p>\n<p>The churches in dispute are part of a movement of more conservative congregations within the UMC that oppose the denomination\u2019s efforts to condone same-sex marriage ceremonies and ordain LGBTQ clergy members.<\/p>\n<p>The denomination\u2019s Book of Discipline holds that same-sex activity is \u201cincompatible with Christian teaching\u201d and bans participation in same-sex wedding ceremonies.<\/p>\n<p>Another concern is related to where the separating churches will turn for new denominational relations. In May, 107 Florida congregations announced plans to join the newly formed <a href=\"https:\/\/globalmethodist.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Global Methodist Church<\/a> (GMC) as a theologically conservative alternative to the traditional United Methodist Church.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis broad group of churches include both large and small congregations along with Anglo, African American, Latino, Korean, and other ethnic communities of faith,\u201d the Florida chapter of the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA) said in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/WesleyanCovenantAssocFl\/posts\/4768542396605282\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>WCA Florida President Jay Therrell claimed the church left them rather than the congregations leaving the denomination.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not leaving The United Methodist Church. The United Methodist Church has left us,\u201d Therrell said in the statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAfter a decades-long rise of theological liberalism, the selective enforcement of our denominational laws, and a strong surge in the promotion of partisan politics, our churches long for the day of being able to unite with like-minded Christians who focus on sharing the Good News of Jesus and help people to be transformed by His salvation,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>A statement sent by email from WCA Florida chapter President Jeremy Rebman, who serves as Senior Pastor of First Methodist Church of Vero Beach, Florida, says the state\u2019s churches in the lawsuit represent nearly 20% of Florida United Methodist churches.<\/p>\n<p>Rebman suggested that the number of churches to disaffiliate in Florida \u201cis likely to grow by perhaps a dozen or more in the next few weeks. Nationwide, this is a movement of thousands of congregations. We anticipate hundreds of UM Churches will depart the UMC and join the newly launched Global Methodist Church (<a href=\"http:\/\/globalmethodist.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-saferedirecturl=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=http:\/\/globalmethodist.org&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1658519330758000&#038;usg=AOvVaw1iM5nn5edtE0UeC-g9gTpQ\">globalmethodist.org<\/a>) in the next few weeks, with somewhere around 1000 by the end of the year. We hope to have at least 2,000-3,000 churches by the end of 2023.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Florida Methodist congregations are not alone in their exit. In June, 70 Georgia UMC churches announced plans to leave the denomination.<\/p>\n<p>The churches, leaving on June 30, are also joining the new GMC as a conservative alternative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBless these congregations as they depart,\u201d North Georgia Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ngumc.org\/newsdetail\/disaffiliations-16505564\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">said<\/a> in a prayer following the vote. \u201cI pray that we will be partners in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>More than 100 Florida churches have joined a lawsuit against a regional body of the United Methodist Church (UMC), seeking fair terms for leaving the denomination over LGBTQ issues. The group of congregations filed the suit on July 14 against the UMC\u2019s Florida Annual Conference in the Circuit Court for the Eighth Judicial Circuit for &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1574960,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1565343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1565343"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1565343\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1574960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1565343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1565343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1565343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}