Moving Forward as a Church
On Sunday, February 21st, professing members of the Chebeague United Methodist Church met with District Superintendent Karen Munson and officially voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church denomination. Special thanks to the non-members who joined us for the meeting. This was a large step forward for a small church. Next, we will negotiate our exit with the New England Annual Conference which actually holds our assets (including buildings) in trust for the denomination. We'll post additional information over the next several days as we continue the process.
Our information document can be accessed here. It is a Google Doc - and anyone can leave comments. It is a working document as we look to identify important information to help us identify what we need to do to separate from the UMC.
Our information document can be accessed here. It is a Google Doc - and anyone can leave comments. It is a working document as we look to identify important information to help us identify what we need to do to separate from the UMC.
BackgroundIn October 2019 (pre-pandemic), members of the Chebeague United Methodist Church began an eight-month discernment process to examine our relationship with the International United Methodist Church and to determine how that relationship is a liability and an asset to the island church. In part this action was prompted by the February 2019 Special General Conference of the International United Methodist Church where the body voted to enforce injunctions against LBGTQ members.
The United Methodist denomination has been moving steadily toward barring LBGTQ individuals from ministry for over 40 years. In June 2016 our New England Conference became a “non-conforming” conference stating that it would not comply with the General Conference’s ever more conservative stance avowing that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. The New England Conference basically ignored the anti-LBGTQ rules and continued to operate in a more liberal manner. However, the February 2019 vote forces our church and New England Conference to follow the mandated exclusion of LBGTQ individuals and punishments for clergy who officiate same sex marriages. Because there was a huge outcry in the U.S. after the February 2019 vote, these provisions are currently not being enforced and the whole issue is to be discussed again at the next General Conference currently scheduled for August 2022. The 2019 Special General Conference offered a process for local congregations to leave the United Methodist Church with their property if they disagreed on issues of human sexuality and if they acted by December 2023. No one knows what will happen at the August 2021 Conference, but there are several plans for the United Methodist Church to split into conservative and inclusive theological denominations. Of concern, is that not only may the UMC denomination split (and our congregation would need to choose an option at that time), but also that our church could lose the opportunity to leave with our property. The Chebeague UMC became a Reconciling Congregation in May 2019, voting to join a national movement of UMC churches and ministries accepting LBGTQ individuals as equal participants in church life and work. As a forward-thinking Reconciling Congregation, we needed to examine our position. By engaging in the discernment process, we examined the role of Chebeague UMC as a congregation with deep roots in various denominations as well as deep island roots. We also examined the support that we have received over the years from the New England Conference of the UMC as well as the cost of remaining part of the UMC. This year we will pay $12,761 to our New England Conference in Mission shares, 21% of which is forwarded to the International United Methodist Church. In order to leave the denomination, we must satisfy our financial obligations to the New England Conference which include our share of the conference’s unfunded pension liability (dependent on the stock market) and an additional year of Mission Shares. The Administrative Council and the Finance Team have approved a fundraising capital campaign with the goal of raising $120,000 to "Keep Our Buildings."
Please stay tuned to our FaceBook page, Beverly’s chebeague.org, and our weekly e‑newsletter for further information. If you have any questions, please contact one of us. May we continue to prayerfully seek a path forward that embodies our commitment to and welcome of all God’s children. |
Name the Church SurveyDear friends near and far,
Thank you all for your participation in this survey. The Ad Council has decided that the church's new name, effective on September 30th, 2021, will be Chebeague Community Church. In faith, CUMC Ad Council CUMC Trustees Co-Chairs Gloria Brown and Rochelle Rice Video UpdatesEach Saturday, there will be a new video talking about where we are in the process. Many thanks to Shelly Rice for updating us.
Dates and Meeting Access InfoOn Wednesdays, Gloria Brown and Shelly Rice, our Disaffiliation Project co-leaders, will be having regular office hours from 4 - 5 PM. If you have any questions about the process, want to help, or stay informed, please join us via Zoom at this link.
All public information is available at our Google Drive at this link. You can find the reports we are filing for the New England Annual Conference and the list of folks working on different aspects of the Disaffiliation Project. |
What is the Alliance of Inclusive Methodists?
To watch an informational video from the Alliance of Inclusive Methodists, outlining hopes for a network of support for churches leaving the United Methodist Church, visit here. This meeting was held on Sunday, November 29th, 2020.