The current senior minister of Highland Park United Methodist Church and his two immediate predecessors have sent a message to congregants about why they should vote to leave The United Methodist Church.
And the three senior ministers directly counter the plea of a longtime former associate minister to slow down the process.
In a letter and accompanying video posted to the Dallas church’s website Oct. 21, Matt Tuggle, Paul Rasmussen and Mark Craig speak against the plea made two days earlier by Susan Gorham Robb, who served on the HPUMC church staff for 20 years and has been a member there 38 years.
Susan Gorham Robb
In a social media post, Robb urged church members to vote “no” as a way of voting “not yet.” Her point was that the Church Council called the vote for disaffiliation with the UMC only 10 days before it was to take place. More time and more mediation are needed, she said, because the stakes are so high.
In a block of text accompanying their 14-minute video, the three most recent senior ministers say:
It is important to recognize that a sentiment for “not yet” equals a “No” vote. A “No” vote is a vote to remain tethered to The United Methodist Church. Some have asked whether a “No” vote could simply mean “not yet” — giving our church more time to seek a resolution before making a final decision. It is important to remember that it is the conference and bishop that sued us, and they have not offered mediation. More importantly, actions speak louder than words, and the conference has just updated its lawsuit to seek money damages from our church and has threatened our clergy and demanded full submission as the only path to resolution. We believe trust has been irrevocably broken. A “No” vote does not guarantee additional time, conversations or another opportunity to vote. The legal proceedings and attacks on our church’s longstanding rights will not simply go away, and the outcome of this vote has significant implications for our church’s future, including preserving our historic autonomy, maintaining our voice in choosing and protecting our clergy, and the bishop’s future interventions in who we are as a church — that has allowed us to thrive for 110 years.
The three senior ministers urge congregants to vote “yes” on Sunday, meaning to sever ties between HPUMC and the UMC yet remain a Methodist church.
“We believe trust has been irrevocably broken.”
Separately, five other ordained clergy currently serving the church signed a letter titled “A Message of Hope and Commitment” that does not take sides in the dispute.
“We recognize that faithful people may approach this decision with different perspectives, and we honor the prayerful discernment of every member,” they write. “Whatever the outcome, we remain committed to caring for you, growing in faith alongside you and nurturing the ministry God has entrusted to this congregation — our congregation.”
The signatories are Abe Smith, Linda Roby, Camille May, Stephen Lohoefer and Walt Marcum.
In the video, Tuggle also addresses Robb’s assertion — without calling her name — that the vote was called too hastily: “I want to be clear, the Church Council did not make this recommendation in haste. Our lay and clergy leadership have spent significant time and thoughtful conversation, prayer and discernment about what’s best for our church. We know this is difficult and emotional, and we feel that way too. Ultimately, we believe it’s time to move forward.”
Rasmussen took on Robb’s plea for mediation between the parties in the lawsuit — again, without calling her name.
“Many of you have asked why mediation isn’t an option, and that’s a fair question, but we have to remember it’s the conference and the bishop that sued us and they have never come forward to us and offered mediation,” he said. “In fact, many of you may not know this yet, but the bishop just this week amended the lawsuit to seek monetary damages from our church. … Now, acts like this are sometimes painful and the bishop’s threatened our clergy, their pensions, their health care, has demanded the election of new lay leaders. While he talks about reconciliation, he’s consistently said the only way to get there is to fully submit to his demands 100%. When we face the reality that we’re in, we don’t see a partner anymore for peace and collaboration, so we have to look forward to chart our own future.”
In her Oct. 20 Facebook post, Robb said she and others had asked to share their viewpoints at a recent town hall meeting, “but were not allowed for various reasons.” She added: “We have shared this information with our Church Council, who graciously said we could make this into a video to post on the church website, but it would, understandably, need to be approved by their legal counsel since it would be coming from the church, and it would be subject to a simultaneous rebuttal video. So my friends and I decided not to take that approach.”
The video from the three senior ministers was posted to the church website the next day.
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