By Rev. Jay Therrell
May 9, 2023
Special Note: WCA President Jay Therrell shared the following message at the Global Legislative Assembly on May 4, 2023. The assembly was livestreamed on the WCA’s Facebook page and can be viewed there.
I’ve always been a fan of Charles Dickens. I suppose much of it comes from being a Christmas nut who grew up from a very young age with Dickens’ classic, A Christmas Carol. Another favorite Dickens’ novel of mine is A Tale of Two Cities which has, in my humble opinion, one of the best openings in all of literature. Those opening lines from A Tale of Two Cities could easily be written about this current season in our denominational struggles as well.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way…
This past year has been among the most challenging yet rewarding of any I can remember in my life. Since we met last, the Global Methodist Church, which the WCA midwifed, has launched and grown to 2,000 churches and 2,400 clergy on five continents: North America, South America, Africa, Asia, and Europe. Praise God that number is significantly growing every single week.
Over the course of the past 12 months, 2,500 churches have successfully completed the paragraph 2553 disaffiliation process. They have done so despite having bishops and annual conferences who, in many cases, have tried to throw obstacle after obstacle in their path. Their success is a testament to the goodness of God and the perseverance that can only come from the strength of the Holy Spirit. Through that time the WCA has done its best to shine light onto the annual conferences that are requiring onerous and punitive additional financial requirements to paragraph 2553. Originally there were 19 that added such requirements, and today, thankfully, that number has reduced to 14.
The WCA, in the span, of about eight weeks during June and July of last year, helped all our U.S. regional chapters to mobilize into a mighty force of advocacy and support for those 2,500 churches that have already completed the disaffiliation process and hopefully, another 2,500+ that will complete the process by the end of this calendar year. I want to stop for a moment and speak directly to the laity and clergy of our regional chapters. You are my heroes. The sacrifice and time you have given to this cause in some of the most difficult situations imaginable has been enormous. You have driven all over your annual conferences. You have prayed with churches and held hands with people who have been harmed. You have stood in the gap when the system has tried to come after you. You have been brought up on charges. You have missed family events, children’s and grandchildren’s sporting events, and forgone vacations so you can help congregations. It is important to me that you know how deeply and profoundly grateful I am for all you have done and will continue to do.
The past 12 months have also included incredible challenges. Churches in multiple annual conferences have had to go to the last resort and file lawsuits. Many annual conferences are charging outrageous exit fees: some as high as 50% – 65% of the fair market value of a church’s property. At least one annual conference won’t tell churches what their disaffiliation payments are until after they vote to exit, forcing members to decide blindly.
Progressives in some annual conferences have taken to targeting churches that have outspoken traditionalist leaders or that have valuable real estate. Our traditionalist retirees who have given their entire lives for the sake of the Gospel, are being treated with utter disdain in many places. One annual conference, North Georgia, just completely ended its disaffiliation process four days before almost 200 churches were set to enter it with no resolution in sight. The latest ploy seems to be certain annual conferences targeting small-worship attendance churches that have valuable property using “exigent circumstances” to close them under paragraph 2549.3.b and seize their assets before they can depart the denomination.
The Council of Bishops President declared unilaterally – even though no one is aware that he has that power – that paragraph 2553 is not operable in the Central Conferences. Our dear brothers and sisters in Africa, the Philippines, and Europe have had no way out during all this time even though, we contend, paragraph 2553 clearly applies to them. It will sunset at the end of this year without any Africans, Asians, or Europeans having had the opportunities we have had in the United States.
Finally, at U.S. Jurisdictional Conferences this past November, progressives continued to telegraph what the future of The United Methodist Church will be as they elected the most liberal Council of Bishops in the history of Methodism including a second bishop that does not currently meet the qualifications to be an elder (much less a bishop), adopting resolutions that make it clear that traditionalists are not welcome even though they say we are, and one bishop stating in her biography at the church she served prior to being elected that she believed that “heretics” should be allowed to lead the church.
Through all of this, we have persevered. As Jude wrote in his short letter in the New Testament, we have contended “for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.”
With all of that said, and as far as we have come, and as hard as we have worked, the mission is not over yet. It would be wrong to assume that as paragraph 2553 comes to a sunset at the end of this year, that our work is finished. So, I announce to you today that the Global Council of the Wesleyan Covenant Association has made the clear and strong decision that the WCA will continue in its stated mission of helping to advocate for churches to be able to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church – all churches regardless of whether they’re traditionalist or progressive. We believe that everyone deserves to be able to get the theological home that best fits their mission.
For decades our dear brothers and sisters from Africa, Asia, and Europe have stood side-by-side with us at General Conference helping to defend the faith. If it were just up to traditionalist delegates in the United States, we would have failed. Our numbers were not enough. We owe our brothers and sisters a debt of gratitude, and to say that our mission is over now would be to turn our backs on them.
They have been unfairly denied a disaffiliation process, and it is our turn to stand with them and advocate for them to have the same opportunities that churches in the United States have had. The WCA will work arm-in-arm with its partners in the Renewal and Reform Coalition including Good News and UMAction to work for an exit pathway for our fellow Christians in the Central Conferences. We extend our hands across the theological aisle and call upon centrists and progressives to join us in ensuring that fairness prevails. To rob people, particularly in Africa and Asia, of the ability to have a process to determine their future smacks of colonialism. Progressives and centrists, we ask for your hands to help us ensure that does not happen.
Moreover, many bishops and district superintendents have told countless churches not to enter the paragraph 2553 process because the General Conference will offer an additional exit ramp. We call upon those leaders to make good on their promises and ensure that a new paragraph 2553 is offered – one where conferences cannot add onerous and punitive additional provisions – and treat everyone fairly. We will contend for that outcome as well.
As Charles Dickens said, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.” For some of us who are out or almost out, it is the best of times, the season of Light and the spring of hope. For those who are trapped or being mistreated, it can seem like the worst of times, the season of Darkness and the winter of despair. And so, our job is not done, and we continue on.
I’m going to let the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:12-14 have the last word because I think it fits well for our future:
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
May it be so.
The Rev. Jay Therrell is the president of the Wesleyan Covenant Association and an ordained elder in the Global Methodist Church.