Fifty-seven area churches will leave the United Methodist Church at the end of this month. They’re among 265 congregations in North Georgia and metro Atlanta that voted to disaffiliate from the denomination largely due to a split over LGBTQ issues.
Members of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church ratified the disaffiliation requests of 261 of those churches on Nov. 18 during a special called session at the Classic Center in Athens.
“I realize how sad this time is for many, including myself. I just hate that those who are leaving us, I will not have the opportunity to meet or to be with,” said conference leader Bishop Robin Dease.
Conference members did not ratify the requests of four congregations following discussion by members of the Annual Conference. Those churches are The Fountain UMC at Sugarloaf in Duluth, McEachern Memorial UMC in Powder Springs, Trinity UMC in Rome, and Griffin First UMC.
A ‘solemn day’
The 261 churches that are leaving the conference account for a sizable percentage of its nearly 700 churches. Their exit marked a “solemn day,” church leaders said in a news release.
The disaffiliations become effective on Nov. 30. After that, the departing churches may no longer use the “United Methodist” name nor the denomination’s logo. They will have 30 days to fulfill their financial obligations to the UMC, including purchasing church property if their congregation chooses to keep it. And they’re prohibited from pursuing further litigation against the conference.
Hundreds of congregations in Georgia and across the country sued for the right to have their disaffiliation requests heard.
The church disaffiliations in North Georgia come after 193 congregations once belonging to the UMC South Georgia Conference left the denomination in May, also due to the ongoing debate over LGBTQ issues.
A church divided
In 2019, the United Methodist Church strengthened its bans on gay clergy and same-sex…
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