Continued: West Virginia Bishop Demurs and Defers

Yesterday I reported on a lawsuit filed against the West Virginia Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, in which the churches allege fraudulent practices on the part of the conference during the season of disaffiliation. In this segment, I go over an updated report by the same author, Sarah Stewart, who did the initial reporting, on a statement she received from someone close to the bishop. Unsurprisingly, it is unsatisfactory for reasons we cover…
“Request For Disaffiliation Info: West Virginia United Methodist Bishop Responds” by Sarah Stewart of Juicy Ecumenism - juicyecumenism...
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[@dstote]

Good Afternoon. I seem to miss the session when it applies to me and WV . But you are exactly right and on target. Thank you for the informative information about disaffiliation from the UMC especially here in WV where we need Al the help and information we can get. Thank you for your continued prayers for not only West Virginia but for all who have been dealing with this. God Bless you and all you do. ❤🙏🙏❤️

[@WMAJ6]

Not only are the voting with their feet but also with their checkbooks. Conferences will survive short term by using endowment funds and the sale of church buildings stolen from local congregations to pay the bills, but eventually they face financial bankruptcy which usually follows moral bankruptcy. I say this with no sense of smug assurance. I find it all very sad. My Methodist roots go back seven or eight generations but I have escaped to a Global Methodist church which I thank God for every day. I spent forty years in the UMC and heard all of the doublespeak and corporate language being spewed from pastors, District Superintendents and bishops before the Lord led me out like the people of Israel being led out of Egypt.

[@gptn1]

My wife and I joined our local UMC church in March of 2024, prior to the sweeping changes made at the general conference. Before joining the Church we spoke with our Pastor about the LGBT+ issues facing the denomination. She advised that she was a “centrist” on the issue, and she would not be comfortable, “at that time”, of preforming a gay wedding. Reverend Dr. Debra Wallace-Padgett once came to our Church for a question and answer session. If memory serves, we had to write down our questions before she came. I was going to ask some of the hard questions but being the new people in the Church, I felt a little uncomfortable and was hoping someone else would have raised the question about the LGBT+ issue. There was not one single question about the social issues confronting the Church. All of the questions asked were on her personal life and other light hearted topics. The Church Council took a wait-and-see approach prior to the conference and have continued that policy. I believe the thought process is that no one is forcing our local Church to have gay ceremonies or accept gay clergy. They have never surveyed the members on their position on this issue to my knowledge. I believe they are just sticking their heads in the sand and focusing on all the good that the Church does for the community instead of addressing the elephant in the room. One time I asked the pastor why they hadn’t disaffiliated and she advised that the church was free to leave under 2548 to another Wesleyan denomination, which was not true at the time she told me this. It was your channel which clarified that this path to disaffiliation was closed earlier by the church court. I believe the Pastor is unwilling to bring up the topic because she knows the membership is split on the LGBT+ issues. There would not be enough of a majority to make a change so why cause all the discord within the Church? My wife and I are traditionalist and it looks like we will be making a change. While we like our local church and the people in it, we do not accept the changes the UMC has made. If the Pastor is correct, and there are not enough votes to leave the UMC, then they are bound to follow the book of discipline. They will be endorsing and supporting redefining marriage between a man and a woman, gay marriage, gay clergy, and transgenderism whether they accept that fact or not. If this issue unfolds like the Presbyterian Church, traditionally minded Churches which stayed after the progressive mandates were passed will be ultimately forced out of the denomination or closed. It is just a matter of time….

[@terrypolen4241]

My understanding was that our former Bishop simply didn’t allow the church to disaffiliate.
I took myself and my family out of the UMC where I had served as a pastor for a couple of churches for about a decade.
God BLESSED the churches, and they were growing gradually but greatly when we moved.
We became members of the UMC church where we had moved.
The breaking point for me was when a bishop (lifetime 6 figure salary) told her people that they needed to be careful about worshipping Jesus “because of His sins and bigotry”.
I reached out to her numerous times and never heard back.
But I’m not easily dissuaded.
FINALLY, I did receive an email from her office.
It never denies the heresy but only asks me for my source.
We are now actively involved with a local independent church.
We are not raising our adorable grandson but we as a family want him to know the Lord and not just a community organization.
West Virginia is in need of prayers.
Many churches have been closed down (or other phrases) have been used for the closure of the churches.

[@froggacuda1605]

I think you're being too kind in your assessment of the Bishop and staff. Sadlly, the response, while vague and weasel-worded, is pretty clear: The disaffliation process for churches is closed; we'd be happy if you choose to stay as a member, but understand if you feel you do have to move on and drop your individual membership. Meanwhile, your concerns aren't our concerns; our concerns are bureaucratic support of our mission statement