The South Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church ratified local church disaffiliations at its special called session held online Sunday, May 21, 2023. All churches were to complete the agreed upon steps laid out in the disaffiliation policy by June 30. This marks the end of the use of paragraph 2553 in the South Georgia Conference, which sunsets December 31, 2023.
At the June 2022 Annual Conference session, however, Conference members approved a report from the Conference Trustees in which a departure process was affirmed that honors the terms of South Georgia’s disaffiliation policy through December 31, 2024.
The resolution states, “The Trustees wish to provide a means for local churches desiring to exit the denomination on the terms outlined in ¶2553 after the expiration of ¶2553.”
With the further postponement of General Conference to April 23 – May 3, 2024, the Trustees felt it was important to give South Georgia congregations additional time to pray, discern, and make decisions, said Dr. Jimmy Asbell, chair of the Conference Board of Trustees.
Of course, the hope is that churches will remain part of the South Georgia Conference.
“It was the intent of the Trustees to prevent an unpredictable or unanticipated closing of a window and force a church to make a decision it was otherwise not prepared or not desiring to make,” he said. “We didn’t want time to be the deciding factor but wanted to give congregations time to make informed, prayerful decisions. If us honoring the terms a year longer does that, we think that’s in the best interest of the Conference. This action is to reduce the fear or the need to make a decision based on incomplete information.”
This new departure policy goes into effect January 1, 2024.
Bishop David Graves, episcopal leader of the South Georgia Annual Conference, the Trustees, Conference Chancellor, the Cabinet, and conference leadership have worked together to create a timeline for 2024 they feel offers the best framework for both the South Georgia Conference and local churches to make decisions coming out of General Conference.
“This has been a hard season, and as we look ahead to 2024 we will honor the process we said we would follow in regards to departures while also providing the best approach to allow necessary conversations on the conference and local church level after General Conference,” said Bishop Graves.
As part of this timeline, Bishop Graves, in accordance with ¶603.5 of the 2016 United Methodist Book of Discipline, calls for a special session of the annual conference on Saturday, August 17, 2024, at Mulberry Street UMC in Macon, Ga.
The sole purpose of the special called session of the Annual Conference is to complete the process of ratifying requests for departures of local churches. These churches must meet the requirements in accordance with the process put forth by the Conference Trustees under ¶2549 that honors the terms of South Georgia’s disaffiliation policy through December 31, 2024. The churches requesting departure must meet the published South Georgia Conference deadlines.
The voting membership of the special session will consist of the clergy members of the annual conference as defined in ¶32 of the Book of Discipline and the lay members of the June 2024 Annual Conference (lay member or alternate, whoever was last seated in the June annual conference) in accordance with the Book of Discipline ¶602.5.
View the full 2024 timeline here.
“Through prayerful discernment, I am confident this timeline provides us the time and space in which together we can plan for the future of South Georgia,” said Bishop Graves. “I want to express my sincere appreciation for the 274 churches who have chosen to remain United Methodist and those who heard my call to refrain from holding discussions around leaving the denomination until we have more information after General Conference. To the clergy of the South Georgia Conference, I appreciate your faithfulness to your call and covenant all while leading your churches in a most difficult season. To the laity of the South Georgia Conference, thank you for your leadership and support.”