The following article is republished here through BNG’s partnership with UMInsight, where it originally appeared. The “trust clause” became a familiar, if sometimes confusing, concept for many during the period when disaffiliation was possible for United Methodist churches for…
HPUMC sought to be ‘legally insulated’ from UMC strife
Changes made to the governing documents of Highland Park United Methodist Church in 2022 were to “ensure that if the church maintained its ecclesiastical connection with the UMC, it was legally insulated from the ecclesiastical and doctrinal strife within UMC,”…
UMC bishop appeals directly to Highland Park members
The United Methodist bishop who filed a lawsuit against the largest church in his jurisdiction has written a letter to all members there urging them to return their church to the fold. Ruben Saenz Jr. serves as bishop of the…
HPUMC case tests limits of United Methodist connectionalism
If a Methodist church does not recognize the authority of its regional conference or its bishop, is that congregation still a United Methodist church? In its legal dispute with the Horizon West Conference of The United Methodist Church, Highland Park…
Does Methodist connectionalism serve large and small churches equally?
The battle between Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas and its regional governing body in The United Methodist Church may boil down to whether large and small churches in the denomination can continue to operate by the same governing…
Lawsuit asks, ‘What does it take to be a good United Methodist church?’
Leaders of Highland Park Methodist Church have spent the last week expressing shock that the bishop of their United Methodist conference filed suit against them over changes made to their governing documents four years ago but only recently made public….
UMC sues Dallas church for making unilateral governance changes
One of the nation’s largest and most affluent Methodist churches is being sued by its denomination for previously unreported changes made to its governing documents four years ago. The Horizon Texas Conference — previously known as the North Texas Conference…
UMC faces turbulence after removing LGBTQ bans
Barely a month after a historic meeting that removed half a century of official discrimination against LGBTQ Christians, The United Methodist Church faces new turbulence as homosexuality foes opt out of the worldwide denomination. General Conference delegates voted in late…