As the nation’s wealthiest United Methodist church readies to vote on a proposed split with its denomination, some church members are weighing in publicly with their opinions.
Members of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas will vote this coming Sunday and Monday on whether to sever ties with The United Methodist Church amid a dispute over changes to governing documents. Church leaders claim to want more control over their assets and property and clergy hiring, while denominational leaders say that’s not the way the UMC works.
For some, the vote is about identification in a changing religious landscape. For others, the vote is about denominational loyal and identity.
Underlying this debate and the upcoming vote are contested views on the very social and political issues that have driven apart UMC churches over the past decade. Within HPUMC are staunch Republicans and Democrats, members who are pro-inclusion of LGBTQ Christians and members who oppose inclusion.
For some, the vote is about identification in a changing religious landscape — especially important in North Dallas, where conservative politics and conservative theology typically ride side by side.
For others, the vote is about denominational loyal and identity — maintaining traditions or breaking traditions.
And underneath all that are serious legal questions about who owns the church’s property and what will happen to that property if the church leaves the denomination. There is talk of revision clauses and original intent. The Horizon Texas Conference of the UMC claims: “The property where the sanctuary is located, on Southern Methodist University’s campus, was committed more than 100 years ago for a church within the United Methodist denomination, and that is a requirement of the property even today.”
Because of its location between Highland Park and University Park in Dallas — together known as the Park Cities — HPUMC attracts many high-flying business people, prominent lawyers and doctors and bankers. It also attracts faithful Methodists who want to be part of something bigger.
Those sentiments show up in two public commentaries offered this week by HPUMC members.
Rogers Healy
Rogers Healy is a multi-millionaire who has made his fortune in real estate and venture capital, most recently as the founder and CEO of Morrison Seger Venture Capital Partners. He has one of the most recognizable names in Dallas real estate.
This week, he posted a message on LinkedIn directed at HPUMC “members and supporters.” He said the upcoming vote is “important” to him and his family. “Abby Healy and I love HPUMC, believe wholeheartedly in its leadership, and proudly stand behind our church leader and dear friend, Matt Tuggle. With an incredibly important vote coming up October 25-26, we wanted to share our thoughts on the future of the church we love.”
He offered to send a letter he wrote to anyone connected to HPUMC who messages him.
Meanwhile, a beloved former associate minister at the church wrote a public Facebook post addressed to “HPUMC friends” in which she pleads for more time to consider such an important decision.
Susan Gorham Robb
Susan Gorham Robb served on the HPUMC church staff for 20 years and has been a member there for 38 years.
“I love this church, its people, and it’s 110-year heritage as much as all of you,” she wrote. “So, if you, like I and many other people I know think that this vote to separate from The United Methodist denomination is happening too fast, that you have lots of questions that haven’t been adequately answered in order to make an informed decision, or if you believe the church needs to exhaust every option available before severing ties with the UMC, I hope you will take a moment to hear why I and a significant number of church members who have served in the highest levels of leadership at this church for decades, think that a ‘yes’ vote for disaffiliation, at this time, is premature, and that a ‘no’ vote on Sunday could actually be your ‘not yet’ vote.”
Trust has been broken, she said, and that means a third-party mediator is needed.
“Holy conversation and reasoning” are needed, “to sit down with both parties and attempt to orchestrate the constructive dialogue that we think all of us have hoped for.”
She added: “We all acknowledge that great harm has been done, but we are hopeful that the church can come through this moment as a stronger congregation and as a holy example for the rest of the denomination who find themselves in similar situations.”
If the vote to sever ties with the UMC succeeds, that will not end the lawsuit filed by the bishop of the Horizon Texas Conference, she asserted. Instead, it “will very likely result in additional legal action lasting many years, especially in regard to properties held in trust by the conference that are not the original deed of 3300 Mockingbird. … However, successful mediation could resolve everything and do so much more quickly.”
Robb also praised the concept of Methodist connectionalism. That concept “has benefited us in many ways, and through that connection we have accomplished great things in the world.”
After listing a number of examples, she directly challenged comments made by the church’s current senior minister, Matt Tuggle.
“Matt presented an optimistic picture of what our future might look like as an independent church. However, other outcomes also are possible. Without connection to the larger body of Methodism, we may, with the passage of time, become in practice a nondenominational church. Our big tent could become smaller, meaning that the rich, varied views we now hold as a large congregation could become more and more narrow. We may wish to remain Methodist in spirit, and we may try very hard, but our success beyond a generation or so is far from guaranteed.”
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