www.nwaonline.com CABOT — In November, members of the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church derailed plans by three churches to break away from the denomination, refusing to ratify disaffiliation agreements backed by super-majorities in each congregation.
Two of the three — Jonesboro First United Methodist and Searcy First United Methodist — have filed suit in an effort to obtain what the conference’s Nov. 19 special session withheld.
Members of a third, Cabot United Methodist Church, opted instead to walk away from their longtime house of worship and start over.
On Christmas, the congregation’s longtime pastor, Stephen Dickinson, worshipped for a final time at the church on South Pine Street. One week later, Dickinson and most of the leadership launched a new congregation, Cabot Methodist Church, gathering to worship at the Cabot Freshman Academy.
On Sunday at 9 a.m., Cabot Methodist had 320 people in attendance, with children running about and enough donuts and coffee to feed a small army.
Only 130 people showed up at Cabot United Methodist; roughly 30 for the 8 a.m. service and 100 for the 11 a.m. gathering.
At the old church, the choir loft was empty; most of its members have resigned. Nor was there a need to fire up the organ; the organist no longer worships there. With no one left to run the sound system, the microphones didn’t always work. Services, for the time being at least, are no longer livestreamed.
MORTGAGE PAID OFF
Despite the challenges, at least one key burden has been lifted. A Cabot community member, who wishes to remain anonymous, has donated enough money to pay off the congregation’s mortgage and to help with expenses until a replacement for Dickinson has been selected, conference officials announced.
In a written statement, the conference’s new bishop, Laura Merrill, welcomed the news.
“The gift the church has received for our work in Cabot is a tangible sign of hope during a difficult time, and I praise God for the giver’s generosity. I look forward to our next steps together,” she said.
Under a provision in the United Methodist Church’s Book of Discipline that was added in 2019, U.S. congregations can disaffiliate “over issues related to human sexuality.” It takes a two-thirds vote by the congregation to do so.
The rule, known as Paragraph 2553, was passed at a special session of the denomination’s General Conference, which also reaffirmed its ban on same-sex marriages and the ordination of “self-avowed, practicing homosexuals.”
As originally passed, Paragraph 2553 did not make ratification by annual conference a prerequisite to disaffiliation. The requirement was added after the denomination’s Judicial Council determined it was necessary to comply with the denomination’s constitution.
With nearly 79% of the congregation voting to disaffiliate, most Cabot United Methodist Church members believed ratification would be a formality, as it has been elsewhere in the country. Thus far, more than 2,000 churches have been allowed to leave.
In Cabot, those opting to remain United Methodist assumed they’d soon be spiritually homeless. The congregation’s associate pastor, Steve Wilson, brought moving boxes to the building, prepared to pack up and leave.
But at the Arkansas Conference’s special session, where 35 other disaffiliation agreements were ratified, critics argued the process in Cabot had been flawed. After brief debate, the church’s disaffiliation agreement was rejected by a vote of 296 to 310.
Soon thereafter, Dickinson, the congregation’s pastor for the past 7 1/2 years, announced he would be resigning. Wilson and his moving boxes would stay, at least for now…
READ FULL ARTICLE HERE…(nwaonline.com)
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