This past Sunday, August 13th the congregation voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church by an 81% vote: 30 for disaffiliation, 7 against, and 1 abstention. Tuesday evening, the Leadership Team met and discussed the next steps in disaffiliation.  We will be setting up a new corporation for the congregation which is a necessary step to create a new legal entity for the church separate from the UMC. 

The big hurdle is raising $72,000.00 to pay the Expenses of Disaffiliation.  We will have to pay the conference $69,949.00.  That number breaks down to $52,000 in unfunded pension liability and $17,949 for the 2024 apportionment.  These are the requirements in the Book of Discipline for churches to exit.  The rest of the $72,000 is money for reincorporation, legal and title fees for the transfer of the property to the new church corporation, and other expected expenses.

There is a pledge campaign in our Realm software.  You can click HERE https://onrealm.org/ChristChurchGastonia/AddPledge/disaffiliationfund  to make a pledge or if you wish make an online gift to the campaign.  We will publish the progress weekly.  We already have $3,500.00 in pledges recorded.

The leadership team also discussed joining a new denomination.  We discussed several times and the consensus was that The Global Methodist Church would be the best fit.  This new denomination is made up of churches that are going through what we are and have a common history and common doctrine.  The decision will be for the congregation to make.  We are also going to make inquiries to another denomination about compatibility, but the consensus was that any denomination that uses a trust clause to hold our property is a non-starter.  The Global Methodist Church does not have a trust clause.

We also recognize that there are questions about the Global Methodist Church that members have so we invite you to inform yourselves.  Here are links to the websites for:

• The Global Methodist Church  – https://globalmethodist.org/   
• The GMC Frequently Asked Questions page – https://globalmethodist.org/faqs/ 
• The North Carolina Provisional Conference of the GMC –  https://gmcncpac.org/   
• The Book of Doctrines and Disciplines of the GMC –  https://globalmethodist.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/Transitional-Discipline.20230403.pdf

If you have questions about the GMC, we will be starting our own FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions page to answer those.  Please email your questions to:  NewBeginnings@ChristChurchGastonia.org

I am praying that the Disaffiliation from the UMC and a New Beginning will help Christ Church step out in faith once again to grow the Kingdom for Jesus Christ!

Peace,

Pastor Burt