What to know about the Methodist church exodus in Kentucky

Nearly half of Kentucky's United Methodist Church congregations were granted a split from the denomination this week, significantly shrinking the church's footprint in the state.

Voting delegates at the UMC's Kentucky Annual Conference passed the measure on its opening Sunday night in Owensboro, garnering 89% of the vote in favor of the split, a source confirmed to The Courier Journal on Monday.

Here's what the moves may mean for the UMC in the Bluegrass State:

How many Kentucky congregations left the United Methodist Church?

The Kentucky Annual Conference's board of trustees listed 286 congregations that sought disaffiliation, according to the board's report. That faction makes up roughly 44% of the 655 Kentucky congregations that are listed as members of the conference.

While the majority of disaffiliating congregations are located outside Jefferson County, these three southern Louisville congregations appeared on the list to be disaffiliated:

• Garrs Lane United Methodist Church, 2020 Garrs Lane
• Mount Holly United Methodist Church, 804 Mount Holly Road
• Summit Heights United Methodist Church, 7400 Outer Loop

Of the remaining 369 congregations in the Kentucky Annual Conference, 29 are in Louisville.

Meanwhile, the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference has an additional 47 churches in Kentucky, in its Purchase District. That group's meeting will be held in Memphis, Tennessee, from June 19 to 21.

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Why are Methodist congregations leaving the United Methodist Church?

The ongoing schism is part of a large-scale movement over the past several years that has divided the denomination to more wholly reflect political differences.

The disaffiliation movements started largely because of a January 2020 proposal to split the UMC over "fundamental differences" concerning homosexuality.

How does a congregation get approved to leave the United Methodist Church?

The UMC's General Conference, the denomination's official policy-setting body, enacted an addendum to the church's Book of Discipline, the seminal volume of UMC doctrine, in 2019 titled Paragraph 2553.

The addendum gives local churches a "limited right" to disaffiliate because of the divide within the denomination regarding stances on homosexuality, although some conservative-leaning Methodists argue that issues beyond LGBTQ+ stances have been bubbling for decades and contributed to disaffiliation efforts..

To start the exit process, congregations must hold a church conference where at least two-thirds of members present must vote "yes" for disaffiliation. Additionally, any current apportionments and fees owed to the UMC and a year's worth of additional apportionments must be paid.

Congregations also disaffiliate by vote in individual episcopal area conferences. More than 4,000 congregations have already disaffiliated under the law, including 71 before this week in Kentucky.

Why haven't many congregations left the United Methodist Church before Paragraph 2553?

Traditionally, a different UMC church law states that the property of any one congregation, even pastors' homes, belongs to the larger church and not the congregation under what is colloquially known as the "trust clause." This measure effectively blocked congregations from leaving for decades.

Paragraph 2553 allows congregations to disaffiliate and keep their property, effectively freeing many congregations from a total asset reset should they leave.

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Which denomination do exiting United Methodist Church congregations join?

Congregations that have left the UMC have been joining the conservative Methodist-backed Global Methodist Church, founded in May 2022. During the negotiations that resulted in Paragraph 2553's adoption, a main concession made by conservatives was the UMC name and historic church doctrine.

The Rev. Chris Howlett, pastor at Summit Heights Methodist Church in Louisville and new GMC elder, said his group is already working with a lawyer to be reincorporated to reflect the church's impending membership in the GMC.

Will any more congregations be leaving?

Paragraph 2553 is explicitly set to expire Dec. 31, slightly more than six months after this week's Kentucky Annual Conference.

In other areas, lead bishops have called special sessions to approve additional disaffiliations after an area's annual conference, the only other avenue for disaffiliation to be ratified. It is unclear if Kentucky Annual Conference Bishop Leonard Fairley will allow congregations in the state to do so after Sunday's ratification.

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Reach reporter Caleb Wiegandt at cwiegandt@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @CalebWiegandt.