The White’s Chapel Methodist Church, a mega Methodist church based in Texas, has decided to form its own denomination following its departure from the United Methodist Church (UMC). Last November, the church voted to end its affiliation with the UMC over disagreements concerning same-sex marriage. The church, with its 17,500 members, now form part of a new denomination which has been named The Methodist Collegiate Church (MCC). Fifty churches located across six states have expressed their interest to be a part of MCC but White’s Chapel is yet to accept their requests as the church must first hear about the approval of its disaffiliation from UMC.
CBN News reports:
A large Methodist church outside of Dallas, Texas that left the United Methodist Church (UMC) last year, has decided to start its own denomination.
White’s Chapel Methodist Church overwhelmingly voted last November to disaffiliate itself from the UMC over theological disagreements about same-sex marriage.
The 17,500-member church now belongs to a new denomination it is calling the Methodist Collegiate Church (MCC).
So far, they are the only members of the network but according to its website, the new denomination will be a middle ground among Methodists.
“Knowing that accountability and connectionalism are critical to the Methodist expression of Christianity, White’s Chapel set out to find other congregations to join together in a new centerist Methodist denomination that welcomes all people, makes space for a variety of points of view, and strives to set aside differences in order to faithfully follow where the Holy Spirit leads,” it reads.
Rev. Dr. Larry Duggins, the chancellor over Methodist Collegiate Church, told CBN News in a statement that one of their central concerns was maintaining a “focus on service” while remaining “faithful to scripture.”
“In short, we wanted an environment that could support multiple points of view while staying focused on the Great Commission and the Greatest Commandment,” he said. “The Human Sexuality issue was an important one for many of our congregants, but being part of a denomination with its eyes on the future and its heart centered in scripture was also very important to us.”
Fifty churches from six different states have reached out to White’s Chapel to be a part of the Methodist Collegiate Church, but the church must wait on approval of its disaffiliation to accept the requests.
Read the full article here.
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