Another 18 churches disaffiliate from United Methodists in North Alabama

Another 18 churches disaffiliated from the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church on Tuesday night, wrapping up the final official departure vote for the region that has its headquarters office in Birmingham.

The latest group of churches that left include congregations in Hayden, Remlap, Pinson, Warrior, Chelsea and Wedowee, bringing the total of disaffiliations in the North Alabama Conference to 348, more than half of the churches in the conference.

The 18 that left Tuesday are in addition to 198 that disaffiliated on Dec. 10, 2022, and another 132 that disaffiliated on May 11. Before the Dec. 10 vote, there had been 638 congregations in the North Alabama Conference.

“The past year has been filled with grief,” said Bishop Debra Wallace-Padgett, head of the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church. “We in the North Alabama Conference have experienced loss through disaffiliation.”

Wallace-Padgett urged those who remain to put their energies into a new start, which includes 10 newly forming congregations.

“There’s a sense in which we are a new conference as of now,” Wallace-Padgett said.

Counting the new start-up congregations in some of the places where other churches have disaffiliated, the North Alabama Conference currently has 290 congregations.

The United Methodist split comes after decades of infighting over whether the denomination should maintain its stance on some issues related to human sexuality.

Although the United Methodist Church still holds its traditional stance banning same-sex marriage and ordaining openly gay clergy, decades of fighting on the issue prompted many conservatives to leave when a door was opened clearing the way for them to take church property with them.

Many of the churches leaving are joining the Global Methodist Church, a new denomination started last year by those who want to maintain a stance banning same-sex marriage and ordaining openly gay clergy. Some departing churches are remaining independent or joining other groups, such as the Free Methodist Church or the Foundry Movement.

The churches that disaffiliated on Sept. 12 were:

Central District

Hayden

The Church at Remlap

Sumiton

Taylor Memorial

Warrior First

Mountain Lakes District

Clear Creek

Haygood Memorial

Henryville

Ider

Morton’s Chapel

Nixon’s Chapel

Turkeytown

Northeast District

Beech Grove

Bethel

Cameron

South Central District

Union

The Church at Chelsea Park

Southeast District

Haven Chapel

Midway (Wedowee)

See also: Methodist breakaway leader plans to leave Alabama

United Methodists urge repeal of ban on same-sex marriage, openly gay clergy

United Methodists ask for loyalty from leaders, tighten rules on disaffiliation and downsize

Another 132 North Alabama United Methodist churches disaffiliate: Trussville, Helena, Gardendale

‘Division is of the devil,’ United Methodist bishop says as 193 churches disaffiliate

United Methodists ‘crushed’ after being left behind by disaffiliating churches

United Methodists plan new churches in Prattville, Orange Beach, elsewhere to replace churches that disaffiliate in split

United Methodists start new congregations where churches disaffiliated in North Alabama

United Methodist split: 198 churches leave North Alabama Conference