After years of “do as I do, not as I say” practices by anti-gay caucus groups in The United Methodist Church, the truth finally comes out as the Wesleyan Covenant Association officially calls for the withholding of apportionments, in violation of the Discipline they claim to uphold.
The truth has finally come out.
For years, this blog has detailed and unveiled churches that have withheld their apportionments (church tithe) from The United Methodist Church. For years, traditionalist caucus groups and leaders have denied such tactics with a wink even as churches they support violate the Discipline by their withholdings.
However, the shift in leadership at the Wesleyan Covenant Association has finally revealed withholding apportionments is an intentional strategy of disgruntled churches. Jay Therrell became the new Wesleyan Covenant Association President in 2022, and the loss of the disciplined messaging and strategic leadership from former President Rev. Keith Boyette is already being seen.
Therrell penned a blog post today (August 12, 2022) on the official WCA website calling for the withholding of apportionments by churches in particular annual conferences to apply pressure to reduce the withdrawal costs of these churches that seek to disaffiliate, and for all churches everywhere to cease paying for their bishops. In black and white pixels, we see laid bare the same strategy I’ve uncovered for years (see posts here and here and here)
However, this isn’t a big deal because these churches have done so before, but it does mark a new turn in this conflict in The United Methodist Church.
Florida Mans
In the hitlist, Jay Therrell calls on Florida churches to withhold their church tithes. But since Jay Therrell was a DS in the Florida Annual Conference before he resigned, numerous churches have signed onto a 100+ church suit against the annual conference, seeking to disaffiliate without paying any money at all.
However, statistics show many of these churches have already been withholding apportionments for years. I checked four of those churches for their apportionment giving in 2019 and 2020 (2021 numbers aren’t out yet), giving the data for the years following the 2019 General Conference. For example:
- Beach UMC, Jacksonville Beach: 2019/2020 Shortfall of $238,455
- Pine Castle, Orlando: 2019/2020 Shortfall of $278,924
- First UMC, Oviedo: 2019/2020 Shortfall of $133,471
- First UMC, Zephyrhills: 2019/2020 Shortfall of $61,169
In total, just these four churches alone have withheld $712,000 in apportionments in 2019 and 2020 alone (probably the same story for 2021 and 2022).
Therrell is calling upon churches to do exactly what many of them have done all along. But it won’t matter much to Florida because many of these churches have been withholding for years, violating the Discipline, and the AC budgets have already adjusted to their ecclesial disobedience.
Messing with Texas
Therrell didn’t target the Texas Annual Conference, but the churches there have followed this same tactic.
We recently reported on the disaffiliation process of Faithbridge church in Spring, Texas, and The Woodlands in Houston, Texas. Those are large churches that will have a lot to pay in even the minimal costs in Texas (Texas’s traditionalist hierarchy is covering the pension liability loss of disaffiliating churches…sigh). But even then, these two churches have already withheld an incredible amount of money. From the Journals:
- Faithbridge withheld $285,018 in apportionments in 2020, and $310,173 in 2019.
- The Woodlands withheld $564,951 in 2020 and $467,472 in 2019.
So two megachurches, just two, in Texas already withheld $1.6 million dollars in church tithes in two years. Double that for 2021 and 2022, and they have already withheld from the denomination much of their costs for disaffiliation. They don’t deserve any breaks, but their compliant Bishop and conference leadership have rolled over conference reserves to make sure they do.
Edited to add: I should also mention The Woodlands has on staff a retired UM Bishop (my former bishop in Oklahoma, Bishop Robert Hayes), who I presume they pay to pen articles about leaving United Methodism. However, The Woodlands hasn’t paid their Episcopal Fund apportionment for their own bishop (Bishop Scott Jones) since at least 2019. So they will pay for their own staff bishops, but not their appointed ones. Good riddance!
Conclusion
The gloves are off and it’s now clear that the WCA has turned from being a like-minded caucus group operating within United Methodism to being an extremist group intent on dismantling United Methodism by exiting property, people, and funds from United Methodism–and breaking church law in doing so.
It’s time. United Methodist is an institution, and institutions have power too.
- United Methodist bishops should take action: if churches refuse to pay their church tithes and do not publicly rebuke their extremist leadership, then there should be a change in congregational leadership before the end of this year.
- Annual Conferences should publicly rebuke the WCA, and deny the WCA annual conference resources, announcements, etc. Conference and district social media shouldn’t publicize local church announcements that feature these organizations or leadership.
- Churches that disaffiliate should have their pastors withdraw too, not staying in The UMC where they can continue to burn down the house that they grew up in.
- Finally, there are layers of conference staff who have enabled these local churches to withhold hundreds of thousands of dollars each year while small and medium sized churches gave sacrificially to be 100% in accordance with the Discipline. Bishops, District Superintendents, Conference Treasurers, and other leaders. Conference accountability processes should be exercised to see who needs to go and who looked the other way as we move forward as a denomination.
This blog will continue to report on these shenanigans and welcomes your feedback or on-the-ground reporting of such violations of our common life together that cause far more harm than two men marrying each other has ever done.
Your Turn
Thoughts?
Thanks for reading, commenting, subscribing, and sharing on social media.
Reading Jay Therrell’s August 12, 2022 article on the WCA website “Let Our People Go!” several thoughts arise:
A. Nobody is stopping them from leaving-the only issue is their worship of ‘THINGS’ (e.g. money, buildings)
B. by stating “Today, I announce the WCA is calling on theologically conservative laity in local churches to lead their church councils to immediately begin withholding all apportionments” ;
1. point “A” above is confirmed
2. by withholding apportionments the voiceless innocent people who rely on caring, loving people to serve as their advocates immediately lose support (e.g. children, youth, camping ministries, etc. etc. ). When an Annual Conference budget is not fully supported, cuts are made and invariably the first cuts are directed at those most in need. I wonder where does “when you did it to/for the least of these, you did it to me (Jesus)” fit into this?
C. ” Progressives should not have placed us in this situation” Once again; they put themselves in the situation and are now trying to deflect the blame
D. “Annual Conferences Adding Punitive Requirements to Paragraph 2553 We call on laity in these conferences to confidentially email apportionments@wesleyancovenant.org to receive an instruction guide on how to ask your church council to withhold and escrow ALL apportionments.” (then he proceeds to list the offending Annual Conferences)
1. seems that WCA has too much time to “keep score” and not enough time to “make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world”
2. seem to recall a passage; “Love never keeps score”
E. “confidentially email apportionments@wesleyancovenant.org to receive an instruction guide”
1. why ‘confidentially’?
a. they don’t want to get caught sabotaging the denomination?
b. they are deliberately providing material to undermine the denomination
2. stridently screeching about what ‘the other guy’ is doing they are overtly and covertly engaging in destructive conduct
F. Once again, the Professional Victim Syndrome is brought to the forefront through projection
Complaining about this is analogous to a spouse who refused to remain faithful to the covenant complaining about the other spouse not remaining faithful. You don’t get to break the covenant and insist the other remain faithful to the covenant too. Epitome of gaslighting.
Withholding apportionments is going against what we Methodist believe in doing. It’s a part of our discipline, oh wait, doesn’t our discipline also speak on requirements for ordination? But I guess overlooking those requirements for someone to be ordained and the requirements for Bishops holding individuals who break with the discipline accountable is acceptable to break. I was unaware any break in discipline was acceptable. Both sides are tearing the Methodist church apart. Everyone, BOTH sides, needs to stop throwing and drop their stones. ENOUGH PEOPLE! Start acting like the Christian believers you claim to be.
Speaking of The Woodlands UMC, the church has been in a period of discernment for a while regarding disaffiliation. According to my aunt and grandmother who are members, the process culminated in a video a week or two ago in which The Woodlands UMC claimed the UMC will stop allowing crosses in churches, deny the divinity of Christ, and other lies. Because of that presentation, my aunt, grandmother, and uncle— lifelong United Methodists— will vote to disaffiliate. The church can’t even be truthful to their own members.
The truth will set you free….but in our culture, everyone gets to decide what the truth is on their own. such lies in a FL church are not unlike the lies in FL school board meetings. These are difficult times.
If one side refuses to follow the rulebook, the other side would be a chump to pretend that the rules still mean anything.
“The night is far gone.” There is nothing an agitated, supercilious agent of the “left behind” church can do to undo the prodigious amount of harm that has infested the UMC due to sanctioned Disciplinary disobedience, vaunted in part by Jeremy Smith’s present annual conference. Traditionalists began complaining about this in requested meetings with PNW bishops as early as 1999. Of course, to deaf ears, closed minds, and stony hearts.
I’ve been observing the ramped up rhetoric the WCA has let loose recently with their usual propagandisitc labeling and self righteous trumpeting. They alone are not “orthodox” and the comparison to their leadership to Moses is laughable. They are not Moses, this is not Egypt, and they can leave whenever they want to. They just want to grab property. Moses did not say to Pharaoh, “we are leaving and taking the pyramids with us!”
And yet the Egyptians gave their gold to the Israelites as they left Egypt.
Greetings and Salutations
I’m a bit new to the debate. IMHO paying to leave is akin to paying a ransom for your freedom. I’m NOT new to the sadness of seeing highly educated church leadership act and preach against the Scriptures. If the Bride of Christ does not uphold His covenant That He ONLY is the forgiver of sin , The Way , The Truth The Light as HE is the reserrected Christ, then the church has lost its way.
Just because our national culture in SOME areas has changed doesn’t mean the foundation and mission of Jesus’ church has changed. Leadership of the church who turn a blind eye to the practices of some pastors , Bishops, congregations, and don’t hold them accountable under the discipline should not have a problem with congregations who decide they wish to leave to depart with their worldly goods. Leadership means you have to treat all parties equally…..whether you like it or not personally.
Abraham gave Lot a choice. Lot took his heards, possessions, and family with him.
I don’t see any problem with individuals reducing their giving or churches withholding apportionments if they are unhappy with leadership. Unfortunately it seems to be the only way to get the attention of the religious hierarchy in the UMC, which resembles the Pharisaical leadership of Jesus’ time more and more each day