By Jack Brammer
NKyTribune reporter
When hundreds of United Methodist churches in Kentucky left the denomination in the last year or so basically over differences about homosexuality, some of the members disappointed with the disaffiliation wanted to remain United Methodists.
Kentucky United Methodist Bishop Leonard Fairley remained optimistic about the denomination’s future, predicting that United Methodists “will show the love of God by starting new faith communities throughout Kentucky.”
The first one officially to join the United Methodist fold as a brand new church is Antioch United Methodist Church in Erlanger.
A special service is to begin at 10 a.m. Sunday with Fairley in attendance. He is to preach at the so-called chartering service at the Receptions Event Center on 1379 Donaldson Highway. The media have been invited.
Most of Antioch’s 75-member congregation were members of other United Methodist churches but were not in the voting majority of those churches that decided to leave from the UMC. It took at least a two-third vote of a church’s participating members to disaffiliate. The ones not seeking the approved disaffiliation basically were left without a church.
Other churches may follow the route of Antioch, said Cathy Bruce, communications director of the state United Methodist Conference, noting that Northern Kentucky was “especially hit hard by disaffiliations.”
She said more than 50 people last month, also upset that their churches disaffiliated with the United Methodist Church, attended the launch of the United Methodist Church of Trigg County in Cadiz in Western Kentucky but it has not yet scheduled to charter with the denomination.
“Sometimes it takes up to a year to get a church chartered,” Bruce said. “Antioch has been meeting since March but just now is getting chartered.”
Chartering involves making sure the church understands the various guiding points and beliefs of the United Methodist Conference.
Bruce also said another church has plans to form in the Lexington area made up of United Methodists who want to remain United Methodists.
The disaffiliation movements started in January 2020 with a proposal to split the denomination over “fundamental differences” concerning homosexuality.
The disaffiliations picked up momentum with a decision by the United Methodist Church to allow congregations to keep their property if they voted by two-thirds of participating members to disaffiliate.
The exodus of Kentucky United Methodist churches was confirmed in June when delegates to the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church approved requests from 286 churches to leave the denomination that was formed in 1968. About 80 churches had already left in recent years.
Departing congregations ranged from Kings Mountain in Lincoln County, whose members voted 2-0 to disaffiliate, to Centenary in Lexington, where the vote was 511-45 in favor of disaffiliation.
A total of 369 United Methodist churches in the state conference with about 84,000 members decided not to leave the denomination. The Kentucky Conference of the UMC covers most, but not all, of the state.
In the Kentucky conference, more than 100 of the almost 400 congregations that have left the United Methodist Church have been approved, applied or are inquiring about joining the Global Methodists, a more conservative Christian denomination.
Global Methodist doctrine does not recognize same-sex marriages or the ordination of openly gay Methodists. Neither does the United Methodist Church, which, during years of debate surrounding LGBTQ+ issues, has repeatedly upheld its stance against gay clergy and same-sex marriage.
But the issue has been debated in the United Methodist Church for several years.
That debate came to a boil in 2016 after hundreds of United Methodist clergy came out as gay and a Western regional conference elected the first openly lesbian bishop, sparking the conservatives’ push to leave the church.
United Methodists may revisit the LGBTQ+ debate next year in Charlotte at the worldwide General Conference, the denomination’s highest legislative body, the first since 2019 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But for now, the state conference will celebrate the addition of Antioch in Northern Kentucky.
The Rev. Caleb Wheat, who previously served at St. James United Methodist Church in Bowling Green with about 175 members, became pastor at Antioch at the end of June. St. James decided to stay with the United Methodists.
Wheat, 31, said this Sunday’s worship service at Antioch will include a special liturgy for chartering churches. It will be preceded at 9 a.m. by a church “charge conference,” at which church officers will be formally elected to serve as representatives of the newly formed church.
“It is an exciting time for everyone involved with Antioch,” said Wheat. “We especially want to thank Bishop Fairley for his guidance. Folks here have remained in the faith and in God’s love for all. They came together after a tough situation to accomplish this together.”
Featured photo: Rev. Caleb Wheat