Bishop meets with local departing Methodist churches

Representatives of six area congregations who have voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church met Monday, May 15, in Cape Girardeau with Bishop Scott Jones of the Heartland Conference of the newly- organized Global Methodist Church (GMC).

One of those present for the meeting in Dempster Hall on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University was former Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder, who described himself as a "multi-generational" Methodist.

"I was enormously impressed with Bishop Jones' presentation. He was an open book and comes with formidable Methodist credentials," said Kinder, who noted Jones was formerly bishop of the United Methodist Church's Texas Conference until his UMC retirement last year.

"That (Jones) would take the trouble to fly to Missouri from Dallas and drive himself down to Cape to meet with Methodists from around Southeast Missouri who've made the decision to leave the UMC impressed me and everyone there," he added.

Approximately 100 people representing six Methodist churches were present: Centenary in Cape Girardeau; Zion in Gordonville; Arcadia Valley in Ironton, Missouri; Dexter, Missouri; Whitewater; and Perryville, Missouri.

Kevin Barron, pastor of Perryville UMC and Crossroads UMC in Bollinger County, was also present to hear Jones.

Those two congregations voted to disaffiliate Nov. 30, part of an estimated 2,400 local churches that have voted to leave the UMC "for reasons of conscience" since 2019, according to United Methodist News Service.

"Local GMC churches will have more say in their pastoral arrangements and will be more collaborative than was the case in the United Methodist Church," said Barron, who noted as has long been the practice in the UMC, bishops will formally "appoint" pastors to serve in the new Global Methodist Church.

The tipping point for the schism is a disagreement over Biblical authority, particularly in regard to LGBTQ ordination and marriage.

Global Methodist Church, a theologically conservative denomination, launched May 1.

"I trust the people in the GMC movement and am very comfortable with them," Barron said, noting the Perryville and Crossroads congregations voted in late March to join GMC.

Kinder, a member of Centenary, said "a lot of us are leaning toward (GMC), but the decision to join has not yet been made."

NOTE: The writer of this article was senior pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church from 2005 to 2012.