Cape Girardeau Methodist church expected to change name, affiliation

A meeting will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 6, at Centenary United Methodist Church to take next steps in keeping with an April "amicable separation" memorandum of understanding for the historic congregation at 300 N. Ellis St. in Cape Girardeau, near the Southeast Missouri State University campus.

At next week's gathering, professing Centenary members will be asked to approve a proposed "resolution agreement" to amend the congregation's articles of incorporation, change the name of the church to Centenary Methodist and to affiliate with the new Global Methodist Church (GMC).

On April 23, church members voted 81% in favor of a unique arrangement for an independent church to remain at the Ellis Street location, which presumably will join the GMC following Tuesday's vote, and for a new United Methodist Church to be formed under the leadership of Rev. Jennifer Long in the next few months.

The UMC's Missouri Annual Conference in St. Charles, Missouri, is expected to vote Friday, June 9, to "close" Centenary as a United Methodist Church, effective Friday, June 30.

Peter Kinder, a lifelong Centenary member and former lieutenant governor of Missouri, is part of a three-person team looking for a new pastor for the expected GMC congregation.

"We will not have to reinvent the wheel by affiliating with Global Methodist, which has former U.M. Bishop Scott Jones in leadership," said Kinder, who noted Jones on May 15 was at Dempster Hall on SEMO's Cape Girardeau campus to speak with representatives of eight local congregations interested in joining GMC.

"It seemed to most of us at that meeting with Jones that it made perfect sense to join this community of like-minded congregations," Kinder said.

GMC launched in May 2022.

Of note

Theological differences have caused a schism in the nation's second-largest Protestant denomination, most notably over LGBTQ+ issues.

The United Methodist Church has elected its first openly gay bishop and all five of its U.S. jurisdictions have approved measures that would "protect, affirm and empower" LGBTQ+ individuals.

Despite this, the United Methodist Church denomination still maintains a ban on same-sex marriage and the ordination of any "self-avowed, practicing homosexuals."

As part of the memorandum of understanding, a $200,000 lump sum payment and some existing equipment not exceeding $50,000 in value will be provided to help the yet-to-be formed new UMC church in Cape Girardeau.

Jeff Long is not related to Centenary's pastor and is himself a former senior pastor of Centenary United Methodist Church.