US Court Says It Has No Jurisdiction to Decide Lawsuit of Congregations Wanting to Leave United Methodist Church

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A US county court has ruled it has no jurisdiction to determine whether the United Methodist Church acted unfairly toward congregations in Alabama and Florida who are trying to leave the denomination because of disagreements on LGBT issues, the Christian Post reports.

Thousands of conservative congregations have left the UMC in recent years because of disagreements with senior leadership who support the ordination of gay clergy and the blessing of same-sex partnerships.

The lawsuit was filed against the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church by 42 congregations in Alabama and Florida, CP reports. In 2019, the UMC’s General Conference added a chapter to the denomination’s Book of Discipline and created a process for churches that want to leave to abide by.

Arguing unfairness in the process, the plaintiffs’ lawsuit reads: “After laying out the plan by which Plaintiffs could disaffiliate with their property and invoking Plaintiffs’ reliance on that plan, Defendants have now revoked that plan and are attempting to prevent their disaffiliation, exercising leverage over Plaintiffs by holding their church buildings and property hostage.”

However, the Montgomery County Court ruled that it could not settle the dispute as a secular body. “The Court is without jurisdiction to rule on such issues because the relief sought by Plaintiffs would require the Court to interpret a provision of the Book of Discipline intertwined with church doctrine,” the ruling reads.

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