38 Congregations Sue United Methodist Church Over Disaffiliation Process

A group of 38 congregations have taken legal action against The United Methodist Church, citing objections to the denomination’s disaffiliation process. The congregations, located in Maryland and West Virginia, claim that the UMC Baltimore-Washington Conference is preventing them from leaving the church without relinquishing their church properties and paying a significant fee. The congregations argue that this stance is at odds with the UMC’s historical practice of allowing churches to disaffiliate and keep their properties without payment. The lawsuit has been filed in the Circuit Court of Maryland for Anne Arundel County.

Representatives for the plaintiffs, who are being represented by the National Center for Life and Liberty, argue that the fees imposed by the Baltimore-Washington Conference are excessive and unsustainable for the affected churches. They claim that the churches in question have already paid for and maintained their properties and supported the conference through charitable donations. The plaintiffs’ spokesperson warns of the significant unintended consequences of disaffiliation and the potential damage to benefits and pensions for retired pastors and their spouses.

The ongoing debate over whether the UMC should accept same-sex romantic relationships has led to more than 1,800 churches voting to leave the denomination since 2022. The departing congregations have largely joined the Global Methodist Church, a theologically conservative alternative to the UMC.