Mt. Bethel Church sued by North Georgia UMC after mediation fails

The North Georgia Conference the United Methodist Church is suing Mt. Bethel Church in East Cobb after attempts at mediation between the two feuding parties failed.

The lawsuit was filed in Cobb Superior Court on Wednesday by the trustees of the North Georgia Conference, which includes 800 churches and more than 340,000 members, and seeks Mt. Bethel properties and assets.

The Conference issued a brief announcement:

While the Conference and its representatives have engaged in negotiations with local church officials and have made good faith efforts to resolve the issues without litigation, the current situation has not changed and it is untenable. The Conference Board of Trustees will continue to take all necessary and appropriate actions to ensure compliance with the tradition and the Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church.

The legal action (you can read the lawsuit here) seeks declaratory judgment against Mt. Bethel, which announced its intent to disaffiliate from the UMC this spring, after refusing to accept the reassignment of its senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Jody Ray.

Mt. Bethel leadership also refused to accept the reassignment of Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, declining to provide him office space and to pay him a full salary.

In addition, the church retained Ray as its CEO and top lay pastor, roles the Conference said violate the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing policies.

The Conference further ruled that Mt. Bethel was not a church in good standing, and ordered it to turn over its properties and other physical assets.

The cover letter to the lawsuit is dated July 12, the start of a 10-day window given to Mt. Bethel to turn over church assets.

That’s also when the Conference announced it was installing the trustees to manage Mt. Bethel operations.

Two weeks later, the Conference and UMC announced mediation and said neither would be commenting further.

In the legal filing, the Conference said that “in order to make provision for the spiritual guidance and pastoral care of many of the Respondent’s [Mt. Bethel] former members, it is essential that this Court declare that all the assets are the property of the Petitioner.”

The lawsuit also seeks a permanent injunction “restraining and enjoining Respondent from exercising or claiming to exercise any right, record title, ownership, possession, enjoyment, use, control to and of the assets.”

Ray and Mt. Bethel leadership remain in charge of worship and other activities on both of the church’s campuses. Usry has not assumed his duties, saying he would not do so during the dispute, and he has been highly critical of Mt. Bethel.

East Cobb News has left a message with Mt. Bethel seeking comment.

UPDATED, THURSDAY, SEPT. 9, 7:15 P.M.

Here’s a statement Mt. Bethel has just released:

“We are deeply saddened that we were not able to come to a mediated solution with Bishop Sue Haupert-Jonhson and the Trustees of the North Georgia Conference.

“Mt. Bethel is a healthy, vibrant church with a 180-year history. Despite the ongoing pandemic, worship continues, ministry thrives, the school buildings and the playing fields are full, and attendance at our weekly services remain among the highest in the conference. 

“We have been watching and praying for the final passage of the Protocol for Reconciliation and Grace through Separation when a special General Conference can finally take place (in fact, had the Protocol been passed in 2020 as originally envisioned prior to the pandemic, Mt. Bethel would have already parted ways with an increasingly progressive post-separation UM Church). Bishop Haupert-Johnson sees a different future, and she is entitled to her beliefs. Our beloved church is now simply asking for its voice to be heard; let us vote on disaffiliation. Give our members a chance to speak to the heart of our faith and stake a claim for the future of Mt. Bethel Church.”

ORIGINAL REPORT:

Mt. Bethel, with around 10,000 members, is the largest congregation in the North Georgia Conference.

The East Cobb church also is at the forefront of theological disputes within the UMC, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., that have led to a separation process delayed to 2022.

If that process—called Protocol for Reconciliation through Grace and Separation—is approved by UMC delegates, conservative congregations would be allowed to undertake a disaffiliation process, most likely to an entity called the Global Methodist Church.

That’s a denomination that’s been planned by the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a group of conservative churches that includes Mt. Bethel, and that was formed in recent years.

Among the points of contention within the UMC have been lesbian and gay clergy and performing same-sex marriages, both of which the denomination currently prohibits.

Ray, who’s been at Mt. Bethel for five years, was reassigned to a non-ministry role with the North Georgia Conference in April.

He said neither he nor Mt. Bethel were properly consulted about the move, as they claim the UMC Book of Discipline requires.

Ray turned in his UMC ministerial credentials immediately, and in his first sermon at Mt. Bethel after that, looked at his children and said “I want you also to remember this day, that your Daddy didn’t bow the knee, or kiss the ring, of progressive theology. . . . which is no theology.”

Related stories

• Mt. Bethel, North Georgia UMC enter mediation
• At prayer service, Mt. Bethel urged to prepare for ‘spiritual warfare’
• Mt. Bethel blasts ‘false declarations’ to seize assets
• North Georgia UMC to seize assets, take over management of Mt. Bethel
• Appointed Mt. Bethel pastor “disappointed” with church leaders
• Mt. Bethel church members fears “that we’re being torn apart”
• Mt. Bethel Church files grievance against Methodist leaders
• Mt. Bethel announces intent to leave United Methodist Church
• Mt. Bethel UMC opposes reassignment of senior pastor

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