Methodist schism: See how the vote went for the 189 MS churches wanting to leave UMC

The dismantling of Mississippi’s Methodist denomination was on full display Wednesday in Tupelo.

Mississippi United Methodist Conference’s eligible voters unanimously agreed to ratify the disaffiliations of 189 member churches from across the state. That allows them to move on to any other denomination or Methodist offshoot. Most, however, have suggested they will affiliate with upstart Global Methodist Church.

Despite the vote, Methodist clergy as well as the conference itself have been tightlipped about the process.

Rev. Barry Male, the pastor for the largest church in Mississippi to have been ratified for disaffiliation at the conference says he will continue to respect the process and not make a statement.

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“Acknowledging that the discernment process is ongoing for others and out of respect to the annual conference and churches, we will not be making a statement,” said Male, pastor of Madison United Methodist church, which will change its name to Madison Methodist Church and will be affiliated with the Global Methodist Church.

The 189 churches that were ratified for disaffiliation represented around 22 percent of all of Mississippi’s United Methodist Churches.

Bishop Sharma Lewis of the Mississippi United Methodist Conference addressed those assembled following the vote.

“I know this disaffiliation process has been tough. You aren’t being honest if you say that isn’t the case,” Lewis said. “I wanted after we voted to have a service of blessing. … It is not blessing them to leave. I am blessing to go and be what God has called them to be. … I want all of y’all to stay. But I have to have the faith that clergy, laity and faith communities took the time to pray about their next steps. Also, if we are honest, it has been tense. I wanted this to be a time and a space we could put all of that down.”

This will not be the last group of churches to leave the church in this schism as many more are in the exploratory form of the process and many are far enough along that they have straw votes scheduled within their churches this summer that would, if formalized could be ratified by the UMC at a later conference.

This is the latest in the nationwide split of the church, which has been described by some as the largest denominational schism in the last 50 years.

The issues for the United Methodist Church, in general, center around, but are not limited to, a difference in opinion about whether someone who identifies as LGBTQ should be ordained in churches. Other denominations, including the Episcopal church, have faced similar challenges in recent years. Amid issues surrounding human sexuality, hundreds of Episcopal churches splintered off nationally to move to the new, more conservative Anglican Church in North America, though no Mississippi parishes left the Episcopal fold.

The UMC Book of Discipline says LGBTQ clergy cannot be ordained and that clergy cannot perform same-sex marriages. However, some bishops are not enforcing those policies.

The lack of enforcement is a frustration among traditionalists and has contributed to the formation of the Global Methodist Church.

Ratification of the disaffiliations took place as part of the 2023 Session of the Mississippi Annual Conference at the Cadence Bank Arena in Tupelo. All others that had an exploration meeting have chosen not to disaffiliate in June.

The 189 churches completed the required steps to leave the denomination and were voted on in a combined 10 ballots.

United Methodist churches disaffiliating

Here is a list of all 189 churches within the Mississippi United Methodist conference, which were ratified for disaffiliation from the conference. Included is the church, votes to ask for disaffiliation, and the percentage.

Brookhaven District

• Rehobeth, 13-0 − 100.00%
• Beauregard, 42-0 −100.00%
• Mallalieu, 6-0 − 100.00%
• Chapel of the Cross, 15-1 − 93.75%
• Ebenezer, 20-0 −100.00%
• Community UMC, 6-0 − 100.00%
• Gloster, 6-0 − 100.00%
• Kokomo, 7-0 − 100.00%
• Whittington Memorial, 7-0 − 100.00%
• Meadville, 23-0 − 100.00%
• Grace Natchez, 44-3 − 93.62%
• Natchez Jefferson Street, 140-26 − 84.34%
• New Hebron, 26-0 − 100.00%
• New Hope, 50-5 − 90.91%
• Greendale, 8-0 − 100.00%
• Sartinville, 16-0 − 100.00%
• Tilton, 36-0 − 100.00%
• Tylertown, 35-8 − 81.40%
• Woodville, 24-1 − 96.00%

East Jackson District

• Gasque, 19-0 − 100.00%
• Fannin, 40-0 − 100.00%
• Freeny, 29-3 − 90.63%
• Madison UMC, 605-57 − 91.39%
• Magee, 60-2 − 96.77%
• Pelahatachie, 22-0 − 100.00%
• Puckett, 52-0 − 100.00%
• Ridgeland First, 36-2 − 94.74%
• Mize, 7-0 − 100.00%

Greenwood District

• Avon UMC, 33-0 − 100.00%
• Glen Allen, 39-1 − 97.50%
• Benoit, 12-0 − 100.00%
• Greenwood St John’s, 130-23 − 84.97%
• Hollandale, 21-0 − 100.00%
• Indianola: Christ, 19-0 − 100.00%
• Indianola FUMC, 157-8 −95.15%
• Inverness, 78-1 − 98.73%
• New Hope, (Winona) 30-1 − 96.77%
• Silver City, 13-0 − 100.00%

Hattiesburg District

• Collins, 43-3 − 93.48%
• Good Hope, 4-0 − 100.00%
• Mount Olive, 15-3 − 83.33%
• Oak Grove Hatt, 131-58 − 69.31%
• Petal Asbury, 60-9 −86.96%
• Philadelphia Jasper Co., 23-0 −100.00%
• Prentiss, 22-0 −100.00%
• Santee, 8-0 −100.00%
• Sumrall, 72-1 − 98.63%
• Boyles Chapel, 7-0 −100.00%
• Waynesboro, 67-1 −98.53%
• Williamsburg, 28-0 −100.00%
• Lone Star, 22-2 −91.67%
• Winchester, 8-0 − 100.00

Meridian District

• Chunky, 15-0 − 100.00%
• Big Oak, 25-2 − 92.59%
• Coker Chapel, 57-2 − 96.61%
• Collinsville, 44-0 − 100.00%
• Pleasant Ridge, 16-0 − 100.00%
• Concord, 17-0 −100.00%
• Cooks Chapel, 24-0 −100.00%
• Coopers Chapel, 40-0 − 100.00%
• New Hope Dekalb, 21-0 −100.00%
• Pleasant Ridge, 5-0 − 100.00%
• Spring Hill, 3-0 − 100.00%
• Enterprise, 19-0 − 100.00%
• North Bend Philadelphia, 16-0 − 100.00%
• Hope-Philadelphia, 17-0 − 100.00%
• Philadelphia First, 150-15 − 90.91%
• Southside, 27-0 − 100.00%
• Pleasant Grove, 14-0 − 100.00%
• Sandtown, 126-1 − 99.21%

New Albany District

• Baldwyn, 26-1 − 96.30%
• Asbury, 25-0 − 100.00%
• Belmont, 41-9 − 82.00%
• Christ Boonville, 48-0 − 100.00%
• Lebanon, 4-0 − 100.00%
• Booneville First, 106-18 − 85.48%
• Carolina, 32-0 − 100.00%
• Pisgah, 20-0 − 100.00%
• Corinth First, 107-9 − 92.24%
• Gaines Chapel, 59-1 − 98.33%
• Old Bethel, 20-3 −86.96%
• Ingomar, 26-2 − 92.86%
• Campground UMC, 13-0 − 100.00%
• Rocky Springs, 7-0 − 100.00%
• Snowdown, 11-0 − 100.00%
• Spring Hill, 40-6 − 86.96%
• Kossuth, 42-3 − 93.33%
• Pleasant Hill, 12-0 − 100.00%
• Liberty, 29-0 − 100.00%
• Thrasher, 5-0 − 100.00%
• Dumas, 24-0 − 100.00%
• New Harmony, 16-0 − 100.00%
• Paynes Chapel, 27-0 − 100.00%
• New Albany Calvary, 29-4 − 87.88%
• Mt Olivet, 10-0 − 100.00%
• New Albany First, 317-76 − 80.66%
• Christ, 6-0 − 100.00%
• Cambridge, 5-0 − 100.00%
• Pine Flat, 10-0 − 100.00%
• Abbeville, 7-0 − 100.00%
• Bethel Rienzi, 11-0 − 100.00%
• Adkins Chapel, 24-0 − 100.00%
• Ripley, 93-42 − 68.89%
• Blue Mountain, 12-0 − 100.00%
• Union Hill, 35-7 − 83.33%
• Paradice, 10-0 − 100.00%