La Croix begins process for possible split from United Methodist Church

La Croix Church in Cape Girardeau could soon be among the thousands of other churches across the country to leave the United Methodist Church.

La Croix senior pastor Ron Watts announced to the congregation during services last weekend that the Church Council — the lead governing body for La Croix, 3102 Lexington Ave. — has voted to leave the denomination.

To leave — officially referred to as disaffiliate — requires a vote by at least two-thirds of the full members of La Croix. The formal vote will be held sometime in the winter or spring of 2023. The decision will then need to be ratified by the Missouri Conference in June.

An estimated 1,900 people are members of the church. If approved, the disaffiliation will also affect the Benton, Missouri, satellite campus.

Watts, in a statement about why La Croix's leadership felt this was the best course of action, said the split has been coming for a long time.

"It is about our understanding of Scripture: its authority and claim on our lives and how we interpret it for everyday living. It is about the nature of salvation. It is about the person of Jesus Christ and his unique work. There are fundamental differences around these matters in the different camps in Methodism," Watts said in the statement.

The senior pastor said the schism forming in the second largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. — behind only Baptist — has often been boiled down to the single issue of the intersection of LGBTQ people with the church, but that it's more about orthodox versus liberal viewpoints on the religion.

"What gets all the attention is the intersection of some people in the LGBTQ+ community and the church, like same-sex marriage in the church and ordination. While this has certainly been a flashpoint, it is only the presenting issue," Watts said in the statement.

"The real issues are much deeper and broader. The two major camps within the United Methodist Church have known for some time that we have irreconcilable differences on some of the most basic aspects of the Christian life," he added.

The UMC elected its second openly gay bishop in November and its five jurisdictions approved measures that would "protect, affirm and empower" LGBTQ people.

The denomination still has an official ban on same-sex marriage and the ordination of any "self-avowed, practicing homosexual." Those bans can only be lifted at the General Conference legislative section. The topic has been debated at every General Conference since 1972. The next one will be held in 2024.

According to the UMC on its website, those bans are not likely to be changed at the next conference.

The senior pastor said he has been treated well by his bishops and by the state conference. There is no ill will and the process is being handled amicably.

Watts said churches on the evangelical side have begun disaffiliation and that the denomination is "radically" changing and will be "dominated by a theologically liberal viewpoint."

"Those who hold to historic, orthodox views will have greater difficulty navigating this environment and staying true to their understanding of the Christian faith," the senior pastor said.

The split — if approved — will not change how the church is run or what attendees see at weekend services.

"Our hope in doing this is to keep La Croix, La Croix," he said.

If La Croix members vote to disaffiliate, the church will be required to pay two years of the congregation's apportionment — funds paid to the UMC for the workings of the denomination — and the unfunded liability on La Croix's clergy pension program.

The Methodist schism resulted in the creation of the more conservative Global Methodist Church, which many disaffiliating churches have pledged to join. Watts said the focus of La Croix's leadership was on the current, potential exodus from UMC and that no decision had been made on whether to join the GMC or another denomination.