Centenary to host congregation vote about denomination membership

Editor’s note: This story has been updated from its original version to correct how the church is proposing to split from the UMC denomination.

Centenary United Methodist Church in Cape Girardeau has scheduled a congregation vote Sunday, April 23, for a possible split from the United Methodist denomination.

Ron Hahs, head of the church’s administrative council, said the council members voted unanimously Monday, March 27, to move forward with a congregation vote on the potential change in regards to the church’s membership with the United Methodist denomination. Hahs said the process is not disaffiliation but described it as more of an “amicable agreement” and a memorandum of understanding.

Disaffiliation is a specifically outlined process in the denomination’s Book of Discipline. Several area churches — including La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau, Zion United Methodist in Gordonville, Perryville United Methodist Church and Crossroads United Methodist Church in Bollinger County — have moved forward with that approach. Hahs said Centenary’s path is different than those churches.

The decision to proceed to a congregation vote came in the wake of a recommendation from Centenary’s discernment group.

The schism in the denomination is a result of theological differences in the UMC, often surrounding the intersectionality of LGBTQ+ individuals with the church.

The denomination elected its first openly gay bishop in November and its five jurisdictions approved measures that would “protect, affirm and empower” LGBTQ+ individuals. The UMC still has a ban on same-sex marriage and the ordination of any “self-avowed, practicing homosexual.”

Leadership in some departing churches has said it’s more about liberal versus orthodox differences in various aspects of the Christian faith rather than LGBTQ+ intersectionality.