Thirty-five clergy or family members of clergy who have served or been members of Highland Park United Methodist Church issued a letter Oct. 23 opposing this weekend’s vote on disaffiliation with The United Methodist Church.
The Church Council of the Dallas megachurch has recommended leaving the UMC over a dispute between the church and the bishop regarding church governance. HPUMC is the second-largest UMC church in the nation and likely its wealthiest.
Church leaders made unilateral changes to the governing documents in 2022 which Bishop Ruben Saenz says violate the denomination’s Book of Discipline. Among the disputes changes are claims the church owns all its property, which violates the UMC “trust clause” that says the denomination holds all church property in trust.
“To the members of Highland Park United Methodist Church: We the undersigned are clergy and clergy family who have been connected to HPUMC through the years. Some of us grew up there. Some of us received our call there. Some were members or shared in ministry there. Some served as your clergy. We unanimously urge you to vote no on this weekend’s resolution,” the letter begins.
“We may have different reasons for urging your no vote. But we are unanimous in this urgent plea. There is no reason to vote at all right now, and every reason to allow the Holy Spirit, church law and civil legal process to run their due course. In fact, these processes will likely continue, regardless of the outcome of this vote. Which is why we believe you should not be forced to vote at all right now.”
The signatories say their hearts “are deeply broken by this situation.”
The letter concludes by referencing the connections Methodists have with each other through what is called “connectional” governance. “Being United Methodists is about connection to the conference, to the worldwide church and, most importantly, to others. It is about sharing the load in a covenant of trust and truth in which we all participate.”
In addition to the 35 signers, others are adding their support via comments on Facebook.
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