Court to side with 70 South Carolina churches seeking to leave the UMC
UMC conference plans to appeal expected dismissal
A South Carolina judge is expected to dismiss cases brought by the UMC’s South Carolina Conference against about 70 congregations seeking to leave with their property, the conference announced.
The UMC South Carolina Conference announced an update on Tuesday regarding litigation between the regional body and 70 churches seeking to leave the denomination with their properties. The conference said it learned of the ruling Monday.
The conference noted that Circuit Court Judge Brian M. Gibbons “intends to issue an order dismissing the cases brought by the Conference and local United Methodist churches.”
“The final orders have not yet been written or entered. Attorneys representing the separating churches have been asked to prepare proposed orders for the judge’s consideration and signature,” the conference said.
“We recognize that this news may bring disappointment, concern and questions for many across our Connection. In moments such as these, we are reminded that our trust rests not in any single court decision or legal proceeding, but in the God who continues to lead the church through seasons of uncertainty and change.”
The UMC regional body said it was consulting legal counsel and plans to appeal the order, possibly taking the case all the way to the South Carolina Supreme Court. The conference said it has “long understood that, regardless of the trial court’s decision, an appeal was likely.”
“There remains much ministry before us,” said UMC South Carolina Conference Bishop Leonard Fairley, as quoted in the update. “People are hungry for the Gospel.”
“So, we will continue to seek justice faithfully, pursue the appropriate legal avenues available to us, and trust God with what lies ahead. And through it all, we will remain focused on our mission of making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.”
In 2023, the South Carolina Annual Conference overwhelmingly approved the disaffiliation votes of 113 member congregations. Mt. Horeb United Methodist Church of Lexington, at the time the largest congregation in the conference with approximately 5,000 members, was among the departing churches.
The departures were part of a broader schism within the UMC, as more than 7,500 mostly conservative churches left due to the mainline denomination’s debate over LGBT issues.
The churches exited through a temporary measure in the UMC Book of Discipline known as Paragraph 2553, which officially expired at the end of 2023.
In 2024, however, some churches left the denomination through Paragraph 2549, which allows a conference to close a church property when it no longer fulfills its purpose.
The United Methodist Judicial Council, the UMC’s highest court, ruled in October 2024 that churches trying to exit the denomination over theological differences cannot use Paragraph 2549.
Litigation eventually ensued between the conference and nearly 70 churches, with the UMC body claiming that these congregations were fraudulently leaving the denomination.
The UMC argued that these actions violated the denomination’s trust clause, which says the denomination holds all properties in trust rather than individual churches owning them.
Most of the cases were all consolidated into one lawsuit, with the congregations asking the court to dismiss the South Carolina Conference’s lawsuit against them while the conference filed a motion to deny the request in February.
