This is a developing story and will be updated as new information becomes available.
Ninety percent of the voting members of Highland Park Methodist Church vote to leave The United Methodist Church, following a recommendation of the Church Council.
The congregational vote was taken Oct. 25 and 26 and reported online at the conclusion of voting at 5 p.m. Monday.
That effectively takes the word “United” out of the Dallas megachurch’s name and means the congregation chose to follow the desires of its senior pastor and key lay leaders rather than the guidance of the bishop.
Thus, the second-largest United Methodist church in the country has ununited itself from the denomination.
While hundreds of other congregations have left the UMC in the last five years mainly over disagreements about human sexuality, the HPUMC departure is different. It is a direct assault on Methodist polity, namely the kind of “connectionalism” envision by John Wesleuy, founder of Methodism.
Within this framework, all Methodist churches are connected to one another and accountable to each other through denominational structures. That includes a provision called the “trust clause” that says all church property is held “in trust” for the denomination. It also includes the practice of an itinerant clergy — meaning ordained clergy are moved from church to church usually on a two- to four-year cycle.
But exceptions have been made for the largest UMC churches, including HPUMC, which has had a stronger than usual role in selecting its own clergy and then keeping them beyond the normal rotation. Also, because of the extraordinary value of HPUMC’s property and buildings and other financial assets, church lay leaders have been keen to erect a firewall between the church and denomination.
All this history came to a head last year when Bishop Ruben Saenz of Horizon Texas Conference learned HPUMC had quietly amended it governing documents three years earlier to grant the church more autonomy. That was a violation of the UMC’s Book of Discipline, he said. And when church leaders wouldn’t back down, he filed suit against them in Dallas County court.
By his reckoning — and the agreement of other denominational officials — the vote to leave the UMC is improper. The denomination through the conference owns the church’s assets, which cannot be taken by a congregational vote.
Thus, even with a 90% vote to leave the UMC, the legal matters are not settled. In fact, they are more contested than before.
In reporting on the vote, the Church Council said to the congregation: “We thank you for all the time, thought and prayer you have put into this voting process. We recognize that faithful people have approached this decision with different perspectives, and we honor the point of view and vote of every member.”
The votes were tabulated and reported by a third party, the council said. Out of 4,775 votes cast, 90.35% voted in favor of leaving the UMC. About one-third of the church’s “professing members” voted.
“Beginning this Sunday, we will worship as Highland Park Methodist Church, with the commitment to protect the mission, ministry and future of our church while still honoring our history and past,” the council statement said. “In the coming weeks, we will begin working to operationalize the changes required by this separation, with a goal to have that work completed by December 1, 2026.”
The Church Council and senior pastor have insisted that in leaving the UMC the church has not abandoned its heritage. Denominational officials disagree, saying connectionalism is essential to Methodist identity.
“Our Methodist identity is grounded in our faith, our Wesleyan theological tradition and the ministry to which God has called us,” the Church Council said. “None of this will change. Our theology, our commitment to following Jesus Christ and our mission to help people become deeply devoted followers of Jesus Christ does not change with the outcome of this vote.”
What will change, the council said, is “preserving our historic autonomy, maintaining our longstanding voice in choosing and protecting our clergy, and remaining who we are as a church that has thrived for 110 years.”
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3 reasons all churches should pay attention to HPUMC right now | Analysis by Mark Wingfield
Dallas megachurch to vote on leaving UMC
Here’s what a Baptist sees in the HPUMC legal dispute | Analysis by Mark Wingfield
HPUMC sought to be ‘legally insulated’ from UMC strife
UMC sues Dallas church for making unilateral governance changes