United Methodist split: 42 churches sue bishop, say he won’t let them leave
A group of 42 United Methodist congregations in south Alabama and the Florida panhandle has filed a lawsuit against Bishop David Graves and the Alabama-West Florida Conference, saying he has delayed the disaffiliation process and won’t let them leave the denomination by the end of the year.
The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 31 in Montgomery County Circuit Court, names Graves and his cabinet as defendants, saying the bishop is trying to “run out the clock” by not letting them leave the denomination and take their property with them as allowed by church law by Dec. 31.
“After laying out the plan by which Plaintiffs could disaffiliate with their property and invoking Plaintiffs’ reliance on that plan, Defendants have now revoked that plan and are attempting to prevent their disaffiliation, exercising leverage over Plaintiffs by holding their church buildings and property hostage,” the lawsuit argues.
The lawsuit asks for a preliminary injunction to allow the churches to disaffiliate, following 236 other congregations that disaffiliated prior to June 13.
Among the churches named in the lawsuit as seeking to leave are Aldersgate of Montgomery, Armstrong of Auburn, Spanish Fort, Shalimar, Loachapoka, Flomaton, Elmore, Elba, Demopolis, Cottage Hill in Cantonment, Gulfview in Panama City, First United Methodist Church of Greenville, First Church of Mexico Beach and Theodore.
Graves’ office responded with the following statement:
“The Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church is aware of several churches in our conference that have filed a lawsuit requesting the court intervene in the disaffiliation process. These churches have not met the eligibility requirements for voting to disaffiliate under the Book of Discipline. The Board of Trustees of the AWF Conference has worked diligently since Annual Conference 2023 to process local churches seeking disaffiliation under Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline in preparation for the November Special Called Annual Conference. We are saddened by this litigation, but we are confident the process we have adhered to is fair and just. Our primary focus continues to be on the mission of The United Methodist Church to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. That is unchanging. We pray for all involved and will model grace, love and kindness throughout this process.”
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