By Rev. Glen Haworth
June 27, 2023
I stand in awe, with great rejoicing, as I hear the good news of hundreds, even thousands of congregations gaining their freedom across the land. Just the sheer number of disaffiliating United Methodist Churches is inspiring and encouraging!
But in my annual conference, the California-Pacific Annual Conference, there is little joy and quite a bit of distress. Twenty-two local churches in Cal-Pac have voted to disaffiliate, yet not a single one has been given the approval of the conference. Primarily because one of the provisions established by the conference board of trustees, in addition to the provisions of paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline, is that the local church pay the conference the equivalent of 50% of the property value of the church and parsonage(s).
For every single one of the twenty-two disaffiliating churches, this provision alone is enough to effectively block their disaffiliation. None of the churches have the ability to pay, or even get a loan to pay, that much money. In California, the property values of churches numbers in the MILLIONS of dollars! Even half of the value is beyond any local church’s ability to pay.
At the recent session of the California-Pacific Annual Conference, attempts were made to urge the conference to sit down and negotiate with the disaffiliating churches. A touching plea by a Korean laywoman met with cordial silence. A motion to instruct the trustees to negotiate was ruled out of order. Another motion to simply ask the bishop and the trustees to talk about it was voted down. Nearly 100 Korean laypersons demonstrated in front of the conference, singing “We Shall Overcome” and “Jesus Loves Me” while holding signs that said “Unjust Price Tag: 50% Property Demand for Disaffiliation from UMC? NOT ACCEPTABLE”. The majority of the twenty-two churches are Korean. Flyers were passed out, saying “God says, ‘Let My People Go’”.
Nothing.
And while the bishop, Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank (newly assigned to Cal-Pac) said on the floor that she is “willing to talk with anybody” she is yet to even acknowledge receipt of emails from me, as the Cal-Pac WCA chapter president, asking for such a meeting, let alone scheduling it. At every turn, we are met with cordial, yet clearly unmoving barriers.
All the while, the conference met under a large mural of a rainbow and extolled the virtues of newly formed and proposed ministries with and for the LGBTQ community. The bishop and the board of trustees president, Rev. Joy Price, repeatedly proclaimed that the provisions for disaffiliation are “fair.” But how can something be “fair” if proclaimed as such only by the party with all the power?
Let me give an example from my own church. The Fount is a 50-member congregation in Cal-Pac that has been evangelical/conservative/traditionalist for nearly 40 years. The congregation voted 100% to disaffiliate. Paragraph 2553 requires the payment of two years of apportionments, plus the church’s share of the unfunded pension liability. Our estimation is that this will come to about $120,000, although the conference is yet to provide the exact amounts! This figure is difficult enough, but Cal-Pac wants an additional 50% of our property value. The church and parsonage have been appraised at $6 million, so 50% of that is $3 million. We can’t even get a loan for $3 million because our debt-to-income ratio would be too high. The most we could hope to borrow would be $900,000. But even if we could borrow $3 million, we couldn’t make the payments because it would come to over $26,000 per MONTH, which is about what our entire operating budget is! We would have to fire the entire staff, close down all ministries and missions, turn off the electricity and lock the doors! And then, of course, we wouldn’t have ANY income to pay the loan payments and would default. In other words, we would have to close. The bishop acknowledges that it “will be difficult” but assures us that we “can do it!” “It is fair.”
The story would be similar with every one of the twenty-two churches seeking disaffiliation from Cal-Pac.
So, while I rejoice with unutterable joy for those churches across our connection who have successfully disaffiliated, I find myself burdened with a heavy load. We need a miracle! We need a move of God! We need our sisters and brothers around the world to pray for us. We serve a Great Big God!
Here’s an idea: send a letter or email to Bishop Dottie, encouraging her to open negotiations with the disaffiliating churches. Point out to her how unfair this provision is because it would kill the churches. Plead with her to listen to those of us who are crying out for a truly fair and just resolution of this matter!
Bishop Dottie Escobedo-Frank
P.O. Box 6006
Pasadena, CA 91102-6006
And please, continue to pray for us.
The Rev. Glen Haworth is the pastor of The Fount Church in Fountain Valley, California and is president of the WCA-Cal-Pac.