My son texted from Connecticut this morning to ask, “What’s all this hoopla with Highland Park UMC?”
Having grown up in North Dallas and being a musician who has played in churches all over town, he has some sense of the place Highland Park Methodist Church holds in the community and beyond. Around here, there are churches that are large yet unknown, and there are churches that are large and very well known. Highland Park Methodist is one of the latter.
The morning after the congregational vote that saw more than 90% of the church’s members vote to leave the denomination, questions abound. Among them:
Why did less than a third of the church’s members cast ballots?
Answer: The church rolls obviously are inflated, as are most church rolls. And it wasn’t easy to vote. You had to show up in person at the church on a particular Sunday or Monday and make your way to a third floor voting station. Even among regular attenders at most churches, about half are absent on any given weekend.
How could the vote have been so lopsided?
This one is more difficult to answer. Honestly, as a close observer of the situation, I was shocked. I expected to see a much closer vote. The Church Council says an outside firm was employed to count the ballots, so we have to take them at their word. The only thing I can take from this vote tally is that most congregants love their pastor more than their bishop.
What happens now?
Church leaders act like they’re just going to carry on as usual and nothing much has changed. That’s hardly possible. The lawsuit brought against the church by the bishop will continue and in fact has gained new fuel. This fight is far from over. And the 10% of members who voted not to leave the UMC may find themselves leaving their beloved church. I already heard last night from one such member whose family voted no and plans to start attending another nearby UMC church this coming Sunday.
Why is this a national story?
This is the greater question and the heart of what my son was asking. Why should he care about this in Connecticut?
My answer is short and simple: Because this is the latest example of the death of denominationalism in the United States. As we have documented time and again, the largest denominational identity in the U.S. today is nondenominational. There are more nondenominational churches today than Southern Baptist churches, the largest identified Protestant group.
Highland Park Methodist Church is effectively a nondenominational church with a Wesleyan heritage. Just like many Southern Baptist megachurches are effectively nondenominational churches with a Baptist heritage.
Megachurches do not need denominations because they are essentially denominations unto themselves. Remember that the megachurch phenomenon is much newer than the idea of denominations. Across denominational lines, but especially in connectional systems like Methodism, megachurches struggle to fit.
One of the chief arguments made by Highland Park’s leaders is that their church is so large and has so many assets that it cannot abide by the demands of the UMC’s Book of Discipline. My grandfather would have said they got too big for their britches.
In truth, the britches of denominations were not designed with megachurches in mind. That’s just the reality we face. For more on megachurch data, see Ryan Burge’s work here or visit the Hartford Institute on Religion Research here.
The Hartford Institute defines a “megachurch” as one with 2,000 or more people in weekly attendance. There are only 1,800 such churches in the U.S. And 30% or more of them are nondenominational.
In 2025, there were 49 United Methodist churches that fit this description, but only a few of the size found at Highland Park. Ryan Burge has a lot more to say about this here. As you read his data, however, remember there is a big difference between church membership and church attendance. In most cases, you should cut membership numbers in half to get an approximation of attendance.
Baptist historian Bill Leonard has been preaching about the rise of nondenominationalism for years, even decades. We’ve seen this coming. But we’re just now seeing the most dramatic results of it as “megachurch” and “nondenominational” merge closer and closer together.
That’s the real story at Highland Park (no longer United) Methodist Church.
Mark Wingfield serves as executive director and publisher of Baptist News Global. He lives in Dallas not far from Highland Park Methodist and previously was associate pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church, located about 4 miles from Highland Park Methodist.
Related:
3 reasons all churches should pay attention to HPUMC right now | Analysis by Mark Wingfield
Dallas megachurch overwhelmingly votes to leave UMC
Burge says this is why nondenoms have advantage over SBC
The nondenominationalizing of American Christianity | Opinion by Bill Leonard
Why nondenominational churches aren’t Baptist churches in disguise | Analysis by Mark Wingfield