East Cobb Faith & Religion

Johnson Ferry Baptist Church opens Provision Cafe to the public

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Provision Cafe opens Johnson Ferry Baptist Church
Johnson Ferry Baptist Church senior pastor Rev. Clay Smith does the honors at the formal opening of Provision Cafe.

The dreary weather was ideal for what Provision Cafe was serving up to celebrate its ribbon-cutting on Tuesday.

Samplings of grilled cheese, tomato soup, hummus and warm pita bread and charcuterie items made their way around the new coffee shop and eatery at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.

It’s an expanded version of a cafe that opened up two years ago, primarily for church members. The Cobb Chamber of Commerce also was on hand for the official ribbon-cutting, with Rev. Clay Smith, Johnson Ferry Baptist’s senior pastor, doing the honors.

With a full breakfast and lunch menu six days a week—as well as Sunday mornings—Provision Cafe is aimed at inviting the larger East Cobb community to enjoy coffee, food and informal gatherings with friends and family.

“We want to get outside our building,” Shane Bruce, the church’s executive director for operations. “Being a positive influence on this community is important.

“We want to help people find truth and belonging over a cup of coffee. But coffee is a lot more than a beverage. It’s something to have a conversation over.”

The cafe is located near the existing bookstore and includes booths, tall tables, and working pods with access to plugs to suit remote working needs. There is also a walking track on the second floor.

Breakfast items include egg bites and biscuits, oatmeal and waffles. Lunch is served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., featuring panini sandwiches, chicken caprese, wraps, salads and kids’ items.

Bruce said the cafe has had a soft opening with members as the menu was tweaked and full operations ramped up.

After that, a variety of bakery and pastry items are available, along with coffee from Atlanta-based East Pole Coffee Co.

Other beverages include lattes, espresso, teas, smoothies and hot chocolate.

Hours at Provision Cafe are from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Friday; 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday; and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Sunday.

Johnson Ferry Baptist Church is located at 955 Johnson Ferry Baptist Church; Provision Cafe is located just inside the South Entrance, with access along Woodlawn Drive.

Provision Cafe opens Johnson Ferry Baptist Church

Provision Cafe opens Johnson Ferry Baptist Church

Provision Cafe opens Johnson Ferry Baptist Church

Provision Cafe opens Johnson Ferry Baptist Church

Provision Cafe opens Johnson Ferry Baptist Church

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Former Mt. Bethel UMC members start new Methodist church

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Former Mt. Bethel members start new Methodist church
The newly formed Grace Resurrection Methodist Church is holding services at the former Lutheran Church of the Incarnation.

After leaving Mt. Bethel Church over its dispute with the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, some former members have been meeting in recent months for picnics and other gatherings, including worship services.

Some expressed a desire to form their own church, and over the summer began the process of starting what is now called Grace Resurrection Methodist Church.

They met at the tiny New Providence Baptist Church on Providence Road, as what was called the Mt. Bethel Resurrection Church Exploratory Committee was taking shape.

The leadership has included Rev. Randy Mickler, who was Mt. Bethel’s pastor for nearly 30 years, and Dr. Rev. Steven Usry, who had been appointed to the role of senior pastor at Mt. Bethel at the start of the controversy.

With attendance heading into triple figures at New Providence, they were running out of room to worship.

Former Mt. Bethel members start new Methodist church
Rev. Dr. Steven Usry delivers the sermon at the new home of Grace Resurrection Methodist Church. Photos courtesy Donna Lachance.

So the exploratory committee set out for larger, more permanent space. On Nov. 20, the first worship service of Grace Resurrection took place at that new venue, the former Lutheran Church of the Incarnation, which closed this summer.

More than 100 people attended, and the newly formed Grace Resurrection choir sang.

Among those in the pews was Donna Lachance.

“It just felt like coming home after a long dry spell,” she said.

She was a longtime Mt. Bethel member and church employee who was among the more vocal opponents of the church’s move to separate from the United Methodist Church.

Disaffected members stayed connected by starting the Friends of Mt. Bethel group, which had more than 600 names on its e-mail list until being shuttered last month.

“My husband and I have already started attending Roswell UMC, but we strongly support this initiative, and will attend periodically at the very least,” Lachance said about Grace Resurrection.

Even as the litigation between Mt. Bethel and the North Georgia Conference continued, she was hopeful the denomination would stand its ground and at least allow the church membership a vote on disaffiliation.

The mediated settlement in Cobb Superior Court required Mt. Bethel to pay $13.1 million to leave the UMC. Former North Georgia Bishop Sue-Haupert Johnson, whose reassignment of Mt. Bethel senior pastor Jody Ray in April 2021 triggered the controversy, met with Friends of Mt. Bethel members, some of whom told her they feel like they don’t have a church home.

(Haupert-Johnson was appointed the UMC’s Bishop of Virginia earlier this month.)

Former Mt. Bethel members start new Methodist church

Grace Resurrection, which registered as a domestic non-profit religious organization in late October, has covered the former Lutheran church’s signage and included its name on the marquee.

Grace Resurrection is occupying the former Incarnation facility at 1200 Indian Hills Parkway that is now owned by the Southeastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America.

There’s one Sunday service, at 11 a.m.

In response to an interview request from East Cobb News, Grace Resurrection sent out a brief press release saying that weekly attendance has averaged around 200 people.

It quoted a member saying that “rather than scatter or dropout altogether, we wanted to continue worshiping together and expand our welcome to new members. Now an excellent centralized location is available to us.”

The release said that interim clergy are leading services and that “Sunday School classes and other fellowship gatherings are forming.”

A second Sunday service, mission projects and a youth program also are being planned.

“The church has come together in unity, faith and love and is excited to provide a kind, welcoming and Christ-centered worship experience for people across the East Cobb community,” the release said.

Lachance said that while wishes her friends Grace Resurrection “the best, and will likely visit from time to time,” she is joining Roswell UMC, with established mission and youth programs “for our grandkids.”

She said that many former members of the Friends of Mt. Bethel were involved in the formation of Grace Resurrection, but so were others.

“But the leadership team of Friends of Mt. Bethel UMC made a group decision to close down that organization and that name. It existed for a time and a purpose, and that time and purpose have passed,” she said.

During Advent, Grace Resurrection is offering Sunday School classes at 9:30 a.m. A Christmas concert will take place Dec. 11 at 5:30 p.m. and a Candlelight Christmas Eve service is scheduled for Dec. 24 at 5 p.m.

Former Mt. Bethel members start new Methodist church

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At East Cobb service, ‘our faith has to stand for something’

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East Cobb Ecumenical service 2022

Clergy from various faith communities in the East Cobb area delivered reflections of “Finding Common Ground” during Temple Kol Emeth’s 18th Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service Thursday.

In the first in-person service since 2019, an audience that nearly filled the vast synagogue was told that hearing such messages and uplifting music (they all sang “This Land Is Your Land”) and sharing fellowship aren’t enough.

“This isn’t a show,” Kol Emeth Rabbi Larry Sernovitz said near the end of the two-hour service. “This is a call to action.”

In recalling the tale of Abraham smashing idols, he said that “we live in a world that still worships idols . . . and doesn’t value people like we need to.

“Our faith has to stand for something. If our faith doesn’t stand for humanity, it’s not faith, it’s politics.”

He urged the attendees to follow Abraham’s example, because “that’s how our faith has meaning. If we don’t use it, what good is it?”

2022 Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service
Youth from the Sikh Educational Welfare Association do the Bhangra Dance before the service.

Started by now-retired Kol Emeth Rabbi Steven Lebow following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, the service included many familiar components, including the Muslim call to prayer, a Bhangra dance by Sikh youth, original music and the “Give A Gobble” offering, this year to benefit Special Needs GA and other local charities for Thanksgiving meals.

Members of the participating faith communities—22 in all—also formed a choir to perform, including “Common Ground” (see video below, and you can watch a full replay of the service by clicking here).

Father Ray Cadran of the Catholic Church of St. Ann said his understanding of finding common ground is “a work of the heart.”

2022 Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service
Temple Kol Emeth Rabbi Larry Sernovitz

Those duties include “being called to together to acting justly,” engaging in unifying dialogue and “loving tenderly all God’s people.”

Rev. Trey Phillips of St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church said “we all come from a common ground” and asked the audience to “let us cling to one another and seek God on this common ground we call Marietta.”

But Rev. Bronson Elliott Woods of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta—where Martin Luther King Jr. was pastor—injected some political references into his remarks, mentioning Black Lives Matter and women’s reproductive choice, and said that finding common ground includes “working against laws that oppress people,” especially those in what he called the “LGBTQIA” community.

“The common ground we share,” Woods said, “is through the breath of God.”

East Cobb resident Brenda Rhodes, the founder of Simple Needs GA and a long-time volunteer in the community, urged those in attendance to find ways to contribute to those less fortunate.

2022 Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service
Rev. Bronson Elliott Woods of Ebenezer Baptist Church

“It doesn’t matter how you help,” she said. “Just think about helping. . . . Go where God leads you to help others in your community.”

Among the organizations benefitting from Give-A-Gobble include the Center for Family Resources, Families First, Family Promise, Food2Kids, Genesis Shelter, Helping Hand Foundation, Inner-city Muslim Action Network (IMAN), Jewish Family & Career Services, Jubilee Partners, New American Pathways, Must Ministries, North Fulton Charities, Pianos for Peace, and United Military Care, Inc.

The faith communities represented at the service include the Catholic Church of St. Ann, Chestnut Ridge Christian Church, East Cobb Islamic Center, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation, Congregation Etz Chaim, St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and Unity North Atlanta Church.

2022 Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service

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East Cobb ecumenical service theme is ‘Finding Common Ground’

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Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service 2022 flyer
For a larger view, click here.

A total of 22 faith and service organizations from north metro Atlanta will be represented on Thursday, Nov. 17, at the 18th annual Ecumenical Thanksgiving Service.

The service has been held virtually the last two years but is returning in-person at East Cobb’s Temple Kol Emeth (1415 Old Canton Road), starting at 7 p.m.

The theme this year is “Finding Common Ground.” The event includes music, reflection and “a healthy dose of humor” from more than a dozen different religious beliefs “to recognize what they have in common and celebrate our uniqueness.”

Among the East Cobb faith communities participating will be the Catholic Church of St. Ann, Chestnut Ridge Christian Church, Congregation Etz Chaim, East Cobb Islamic Center, Emerson Unitarian Universalist Congregation, St. Catherine’s Episcopal Church Transfiguration Catholic Church and Unity North Atlanta Church.

A collection will be taken to benefit the Give-A-Gobble Campaign and desserts will be served after the service.

Seating is limited and begins at 6:30 p.m.

The service also is being live-streamed at this link.

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Mt. Bethel Church closing day care, selling unrestricted properties

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Mt. Bethel Day Care closing

Not long after we posted today that Mt. Bethel Church is dropping its sponsorship of a Boy Scout troop due to rising insurance costs, we learned of more changes afoot for other church-related activities.

Teachers and parents of the Mt. Bethel Day Care Center (615 Woodlawn Drive) were notified last week it would be closing as of Dec. 16, saying labor shortages and rising costs, including insurance liability, were among the reasons.

Mt. Bethel Church is selling that property and three other pieces of land it owns: a community center next door, and two parcels across Lower Roswell Road.

One of the day care parents has started a Go Fund Me account to financially assist the 12 staff members who will be out of jobs. That fundraiser has netted more than $1,500 out of a goal of $10,000.

Samantha Black, a spokeswoman for Mt. Bethel Church, said the decision to close the day care—which has 28 children from 22 families—came as part of a broad evaluation of services, activities and properties by church leadership as it adjusts to being an independent church.

“It was becoming too difficult to continue operating a day care at the standards we expect,” she said. While deciding to sell the other properties were easier calls, she said, “closing a day care was tough. It has had a great history for 22 years.”

She said 60 percent of the families of the children enrolled in the day care have found other arrangements, and existing pre-school and day care services on the main Mt. Bethel campus on Lower Roswell Road remain available.

The staff members will be receiving what Black said were “generous” severance benefits through the end of the year.

Mt. Bethel Church separated from the United Methodist Church this summer following a court settlement that stemmed from a disputed reappointment of Senior Pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray in 2021.

In the settlement, Mt. Bethel paid the North Georgia Conference of the UMC $13.1 million. During their legal dispute, the Conference estimated the value of the Mt. Bethel properties at more than $35 million.

In the consent decree (you can read it here), Mt. Bethel was allowed to keep eight parcels that it could sell without restrictions.

Those properties are currently appraised by Cobb County at nearly $1.5 million. The properties being sold are appraised collectively at $771,670.

The church is prevented from selling eight other parcels, including the main church campus and parking lot, for seven and a half years without giving the UMC and its North Georgia Conference the right of first refusal to purchase them.

The appraised value of the restricted properties is $1.085 million, according to Cobb Tax Assessor’s Office records.

The day care is located on 0.967 acres appraised at $317,220, according to current Cobb property tax records.

Those records show Mt. Bethel paid more than $965,000 in 2002 for the land and 6,156-square-foot building that was completed in 1990.

The community center adjacent to the day care sits on 1.2 acres at 4608 Lower Roswell Road and has an appraised value of $145,270.

Across the street, two properties are being put up for sale that are next to the post office branch.

A former homesite known as the Cagle House (4525 Lower Roswell Road) has an appraised value of $124,860 on 0.9 acres.

Next to that, at 4505 Lower Roswell Road, is a vacant lot of 0.8 acres appraised at $184,320.

Black said the Cagle House has been used for Mt. Bethel’s Backpack Blessings program that will relocate to the main campus.

The other properties that Mt. Bethel holds free and clear are two homes on Fairfield Drive that have served as parsonages and another that houses a special-needs program.

Those are not being sold, nor is the Mt. Bethel Cemetery on Johnson Ferry Road next to the Zaxby’s, Black said.

Those four properties combined are appraised at $671,850.

Ferrell Coppedge, Mt. Bethel’s lay leader, said in a statement Black provided to East Cobb News that “now that Mt. Bethel is out from under the Trust Clause of the UMC, we have newfound freedom to take a fresh look at our ministry priorities and how our assets and properties can best support them. Proceeds from the sale of Mt. Bethel’s properties can be redeployed for vital ministry.

“Most of these properties were originally bought for their potential to house a high school, not to support active ministry of the church,” Coppedge said. “As part of responsible stewardship, our committees, our leadership council and our pastors will continue to evaluate how Mt. Bethel’s assets can best support the ministry of the church.”

The Mt. Bethel Christian Academy campus on Post Oak Tritt was not subject to the terms of the lawsuit. That 33.4-acre parcel near the intersection of Holly Springs Road, which conducts high school classes and worship services, is appraised at $7.3 million.

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Mt. Bethel Church drops charter status with Boy Scouts

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Mt. Bethel Church drops Boy Scout charter status

Saturday was to have been the 50th birthday celebration for Boy Scout Troop 1011, which was chartered at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church and has met there ever since.

But the anniversary event was postponed after church leadership decided not to renew its charter with the Boy Scouts of America.

Mt. Bethel Church—renamed after it left the United Methodist Church in a contentious dispute that ended in a court settlement this summer—said the change was being made due to increasing insurance costs.

A spokeswoman for the church said that Mt. Bethel and the troop are working on “a mutual agreement” for the scouts to continue to meet at Mt. Bethel while a new charter organization is brought on board.

“Mt. Bethel and Troop 1011 have a long, fruitful relationship and Mt. Bethel recognizes the value of the troop and acknowledges its history,” Samantha Black said in a statement on behalf of the church. “We have enjoyed a great relationship and the Troop continues to meet on the Mt. Bethel campus.”

The Boy Scouts of America requires troops to be chartered by organizations that must provide insurance for their events and activities.

They’re typically churches and other community organizations that allow troops to meet on their premises.

They also can be third parties. The new chartering organization for Troop 1011 will be the Rotary Club of East Cobb, according to Bob Ott, the troop’s charter representative.

He’s a Mt. Bethel Church member and a former Cobb commissioner who said the timing of the change had nothing to with the church’s new status as an independent church.

“This is totally related to this being the time every year when chartering is done by the Boy Scouts,” he said, adding that he was speaking on behalf of the troop.

Troop 1011, he said, “isn’t being kicked out” and that the charter change will enable the church and the troop to continue “a great partnership.”

Ott said that property and gear belonging to the scouts remain on the Mt. Bethel campus.

East Cobb News has left a message with the Rotary Club of East Cobb seeking comment.

In Mt. Bethel’s legal settlement in Cobb Superior Court, it was required to pay $13.1 million to the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church.

The dispute centered around the Conference’s reassignment of Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, the senior pastor, in the spring of 2021.

Mt. Bethel is among the Methodist churches that in recent years have expressed theological concerns on a number of issues, including ordaining gay clergy and performing same-sex marriages.

Both are currently banned by the UMC, but that is expected to change.

UMC delegates were to have voted on a set of protocols to allow conservative congregations to leave in 2020, but its global conference has been delayed several times due to COVID-19 restrictions and has been rescheduled for 2024.

In 2013, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church cut ties entirely with the Boy Scouts after the latter began permitting openly gay scouts.

Since then, the Boy Scouts also have accepted openly gay scout leaders.

Ott said the issue of gays in the Boy Scouts had no bearing on Mt. Bethel’s decision not to be Troop 1011’s chartering organization.

Troop 1011’s 50th anniversary celebration, initially set for McFarlane Nature Park on Paper Mill Road, is being postponed until it completes the chartering process with the Rotary Club.

 

 

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Eastminster Presbyterian Church celebrates 50th anniversary

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Eastminster Presbyterian Church 50th anniversary

Eastminster Presbyterian Church will mark its 50th anniversary in October with a special catered dinner for current and former members and clergy, a special worship service and other festivities.

The dinner takes place on Saturday, Oct. 8. The special service is scheduled for the next day, with a family barbecue and other festivities to follow.

The church located at 3125 Sewell Mill Road has around 600 members. Eastminster belongs to the Covenant Order of Evangelical Presbyterians, a Reformed denomination of around 400 churches nationwide that separated from the Presbyterian Church in 2012.

Eastminster Presbyterian (website here) holds two traditional worship services every Sunday along with Sunday School classes. The senior pastor is Rev. Aaron Moore and the associate pastor is Rev. Hubie Mann.

The church hosts a Boy Scout troop, a preschool, a weekly gathering of home schoolers, a teaching center for local musicians and a practice site for bagpipe enthusiasts.

Eastminster began in 1972 with a core group of eight people with a goal of meeting the worship and pastoral needs of an area of East Cobb undergoing rapid suburbanization.

The church first met at a specially-built small house at Johnson Ferry Road and Woodlawn Drive, then broke ground on its present facility at Sewell Mill and Old Canton roads in 1991.

Eastminster’s work in the community includes volunteering for food service with the Table on Delk and MUST Ministries and providing supplies to  Blessings
in a Backpack.

Beyond East Cobb, Eastminster aids needy families in Welch, W. Va. and supports ministries to orphanages in Kenya, school children in Guatemala and a church plant in Costa Rica.

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Cobb Police to hold Community and Faith Forum

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Submitted information:Cobb Police Community Faith Forum

The Cobb County Police Department invites you to attend the Community & Faith Forum, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 25, at the Cobb County Public Safety Training Academy, 2435 East-West Connector, Austell.

This is an opportunity to meet CCPD’s new leadership team and hear their vision for the department and the direction they will be taking as they deal with violent crime and the safety of Cobb citizens. The goal is to build trust with our community.

The Community & Faith Forum was created to promote harmony within Cobb County by bringing together different faiths and beliefs to discuss challenging social issues and raise awareness.

This event is free and open to the public.

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Lutheran Church of the Incarnation closes after 42 years

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Lutheran Church of the Incarnation closes

Sunday was the last day of worship services at the Lutheran Church of the Incarnation in East Cobb.

In addition to its scheduled Sunday morning service, the congregation that’s part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America also held a special Holy Closure service for members Sunday afternoon.

Holy Closure is the process in the ELCA by which congregations are turned over to their synods, or regional governing bodies.

The church opened in 1980 and two years later dedicated its building at 1200 Indian Hills Parkway, at the corner of Roswell Road. It is located adjacent to Congregation Etz Chaim, which opened in 1975 as the first synagogue in East Cobb.

Incarnation’s sanctuary featured a segmented glass-stained window in the back of the sanctuary, between the organ pipes (below) and another stained glass Rose Window depicts a vine, branches, grapes and shafts of wheat with readings from John and the words of Christ (“I am the true Vine and my father is the gardener.”)

Incarnation leaders announced the Holy Closure process last month, citing declining membership and financial difficulties, and after a congregational meeting in late May to detail those issues.

The church’s property and other assets will be managed by the Southeastern Synod of the ELCA in Atlanta.

Incarnation is the second church in the synod to close recently, along with the Lutheran Church of the Messiah in Decatur.

In his final sermon, Incarnation Pastor Uijin Hwang preached about “The Living God” and cited the Book of Hosea:

“We have to live a life that does not fall into the ideology of abundance and fertility, but opens our heart to the depth of God’s creation and life that is much deeper and richer.

“In life itself, not prosperity, there is the satisfaction of our soul. They say this is the normal life, but the truth is that they have a lot of greed.

“The reason we do not feel any problem in our life is that we are already accustomed to the Baal faith and cannot get hold of another dimension of life.

“It’s just sad that even as Christians, we don’t know a newer dimension of life as Jesus ever proclaims, that is, the Kingdom of God.

“As Christians, we do believe the living God. And this God declares that we are the chosen ones to live as children of the living God.

“Please live like a Christian!”

Incarnation has held a yard sale and conducted other special activities to prepare for its closing.

There are two other ELCA churches in the East Cobb area: Lutheran Church of the Resurrection on Paper Mill Road and Holy Trinity Lutheran Church on Sandy Plains Road.

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Mt. Bethel officially breaks from United Methodist Church

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Mt. Bethel Church
The front of Mt. Bethel Church in July 2021, before its battle with the United Methodist Church went to court.

The words “Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church” once engraved on a marquee on its main campus on Lower Roswell Road were scrubbed several weeks ago.

That was in June, when the large East Cobb congregation entered into a settlement with the United Methodist Church to resolve more than a year of public disputes and legal wranglings.

A little more than a month later, the split has become official. Mt. Bethel Church is no longer part of the second-largest Protestant denomination and is an independent church.

Less than a month after entering a formal settlement with the North Georgia Conference of United Methodist Church, Mt. Bethel has fulfilled its obligations in a consent decree.

The Conference Board of Trustees issued a statement Wednesday saying that both parties “recently signed documents that bring resolution to the matter” and that they “appreciate all who have worked patiently and prayerfully to reach this point of resolution.”

No further details were announced, but the consent decree, filed in Cobb Superior Court, required Mt. Bethel to pay the Conference $13.1 million in 120 days. The church conducted a fundraising drive and received a loan to meet that obligation.

Other terms of the decree also no do not permit Mt. Bethel to use certain portions of its properties as offices or headquarters for another religious denomination for several years.

The church also cannot sell any of its Lower Roswell Road properties for seven and a half years without giving the UMC and the North Georgia Conference the right of first refusal to purchase them.

Mt. Bethel has been a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a consortium of conservative Methodist congregations that eventually founded the Global Methodist Church, a new denomination that went into effect in May.

The UMC has planned a separation process for conservative churches to leave over theological issues, particularly regarding human sexuality.

The UMC currently bans gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages but is likely to change those policies.

However, the denomination hasn’t been able to meet collectively since COVID-19 and its next general conference has been delayed to 2024.

Mt. Bethel officials said when the consent decree was signed in June that they are remaining independent.

Robert Ingram, the lead attorney for Mt. Bethel, previously told East Cobb News that his clients wanted the settlement to include a disaffiliation vote that would have been less costly than what was in the consent decree.

But he said the Conference, “despite our pleas, never did that.”

The dispute began in March 2021 when the Bishop of North Georgia reassigned Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor, to a Conference position on racial reconciliation.

Mt. Bethel leaders balked, saying they weren’t properly consulted and declared their intent to disaffiliate, while Ray turned in his UMC ministerial credentials.

He was retained by Mt. Bethel as a pastor and CEO and has continued in those roles ever since.

Those and other actions by Mt. Bethel prompted charges by the Conference that the congregation—with nearly 10,000 members is the largest in its domain—was violating the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing documents.

Mt. Bethel also refused to accept the Conference’s newly appointed senior pastor, Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, who has since been meeting with disaffected members.

The Conference attempted to seize church property and assets, declared Mt. Bethel not to be a church in good standing, and entered into mediation before filing a lawsuit last September.

Mt. Bethel filed a counterclaim and after several months of litigation, asked Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark to lead settlement talks.

A church picnic has been scheduled at Mt. Bethel for Aug. 14 after its late service.

A group of Mt. Bethel members who opposed the church’s fight with the North Georgia Conference continue to worship and have fellowship and support events at a variety of venues.

Last month, North Georgia Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson met with them at Mt. Zion UMC in East Cobb.

The Friends of Mt. Bethel group has been worshipping once a month at Roswell UMC and has been having “shepherding” events at the East Cobb Library and prayer meetings at Mt. Zion.

Fellowship potlucks are scheduled for this Sunday and Aug. 14 at the clubhouse at the Sibley Forest subdvision.

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Marietta Campmeeting 2022: Partial list of speakers released

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Marietta Campmeeting returns

The 184th Marietta Campmeeting is scheduled for July 15-24, and Peter Vien, the organization’s president, has released a partial list of featured speakers for the revival event.

The celebration kicks off on Friday, July 15, with a morning service at 11 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. service featuring Dr. Ike Reighard, the senior pastor of Piedmont Church in East Cobb, and CEO of MUST Ministries.

On Sunday, July 17, Rev. Kristin Lee, Sr. Pastor, East Cobb UMC, the home church of the Campmeeting, will be speaking. Other speakers include Rev. Johnny Foster of East Cobb Baptist Church, Dr. John Hull Eastside Baptist Church and Rev. Darrell Rice, VP/Community Revitalization, City of Refuge Atlanta.

Schedule updates are being made on the Campmeeting Facebook page and website. The Methodist affiliated Campmeeting, which began in 1837, resumed last year after being cancelled in 2020—for the first time since the Civil War—due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Campmeeting takes place at the Marietta Campground (2300 Roswell Road) and the public is invited to attend services and other events, including an ice cream social and watermelon cutting and childrens’ services.

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Disaffected Mt. Bethel members ask: ‘How do we go ahead?’

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Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, North Georgia Conference UMC
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, North Georgia Conference

More than 100 present and former members of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church met this week with the Bishop of the North Georgia Conference, who responded to claims that the denominational body “caved” in its legal dispute with the East Cobb congregation.

Earlier this month, the Conference entered into a settlement agreement with Mt. Bethel to allow it to leave the UMC with its property and assets in exchange for a $13.1 million payment and other terms.

Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson said at a meeting of the Friends of Mt. Bethel this week that legal costs and voluminous deposition requests were mounting.

The Conference and Mt. Bethel have been in litigation since last September, but agreed to a consent decree that has been signed and is expected to be finalized by later this summer.

Mt. Bethel has 120 days to make the payment, and would then become an independent church. According to the AJC, Mt. Bethel is more than halfway toward reaching that goal.

“Our legal counsel was that if we wanted to settle the matter, which we thought was in the best interest of everyone, it would be better to do so before the deposition process began,” Haupert-Johnson said at the Friends meeting, which was held at Mt. Zion UMC in East Cobb.

“That would be a contentious phase. . . So much of our time was spent in the process of litigation and the constant discovery. It wasn’t caving. It was a missional decision above all else to free them to be about the overall mission of the Church.”

The Friends of Mt. Bethel was formed last fall by church members who opposed the congregation leadership’s decision to fight Haupert-Johnson’s reassignment of senior pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray.

Mt. Bethel also declined to accept her appointment of Rev. Dr. Steven Usry to succeed him, saying the church was not properly consulted.

After Ray refused his new post and turned in his UMC ministerial credentials, the Conference eventually moved to claim Mt. Bethel property and assets, followed by a failed mediation effort and litigation.

The Friends group numbers several hundred individuals on its mailing list, and has been meeting informally with Usry in recent months. They recently had a picnic and have had other fellowship events in the Sibley Forest neighborhood in East Cobb.

For Easter, Usry preached a sermon for them at another UMC in Atlanta, and the group is planning worship events at Roswell UMC the last Sunday of each month, with him presiding and with a choir.

“These events will give us a chance slow down, pause and deal with our anger and confusion together,” said Suzanne Tucker, Mt. Bethel’s former director of traditional music and creative arts.

She said she was terminated in April because she didn’t go along with Mt. Bethel leadership in the dispute with the North Georgia Conference.

“I am deeply saddened by what is going on,” she told East Cobb News in a message in May. “I am appalled at the power grab being attempted under the banner of Christ by Jody and his supporters.”

Those sentiments were echoed Tuesday at the meeting with Haupert-Johnson, who was joined by Usry.

Someone asked why “didn’t we just go ahead and evict Jody? He was trespassing. He was told he couldn’t be the minister of this Methodist Church and then he sat and squatted.”

Haupert-Johnson responded that “Have you ever tried to evict a tenant from a dwelling that you owned?”

Friends of Mt. Bethel picnic
The Friends of Mt. Bethel have been holding worship and fellowship events in recent months, including a May picnic.

Others asked her why Mt. Bethel won’t have a disaffiliation vote, as is called for in the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing documents.

Haupert-Johnson said that was the intention, and while “we knew Mt. Bethel might not go ‘woo-hoo a new pastor’ . . . we didn’t expect all that went on.”

She said the plan was to have Usry represent Mt. Bethel through such a proceeding. “But the leadership of the church took a different direction,” she said.

“When they refused the appointment, when they created their executive committee, when there was so much of that, we realized there was nobody in Mt. Bethel that represented the Methodist Church.”

Haupert-Johnson told the Friends of Mt. Bethel group that she pushed for Mt. Bethel to have a church conference for members to elect leadership this fall and then have a disaffiliation vote next spring.

“They soundly rejected that, every step of the way. So I would have loved for you to have a vote, she said. “I advocated for that to happen. But that wasn’t going to happen.”

Robert Ingram, the lead attorney for Mt. Bethel, previously told East Cobb News that his clients sought a vote because it would have cost “millions and million of dollars less” than what’s been settled.

“We wanted the court to allow a vote just on disaffiliation,” he said, explaining that only the North Georgia Conference superintendent could call for a such a vote.

“Despite our pleas, they never did that,” Ingram said.

Another attendee at the Friends meeting said “that I feel abandoned and unwanted and unnecessary in my own church of 38 years. My question is how do we go ahead? I’m missing spiritual guidance. I don’t have a church right now that I feel like I can go to and worship in.”

Usry said he will be providing pastoral care and shepherding to those Mt. Bethel members who aren’t inclined to go back, and “to provide environments that will help you discern a way forward.”

Tucker said there will be prayer events in July and August at Mt. Zion. She’s also organizing choir rehearsals that take place at East Cobb UMC.

In a video message this week, Ray said “we have a new task of rebuilding toward a new horizon.” He mentioned the fundraising campaign is off “to an amazing start” in asking for donations.

“God has moved in a mighty way on behalf of Mt. Bethel Church,” he said. “He has brought us through a time and place when had to turn our eyes to him and place our total reliance upon him.

“I believe that if we will continue in that same surrender and obedience, Mt. Bethel’s greatest days are out in front of us.”

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Mt. Bethel, North Ga. Conference file settlement documents

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A consent decree between Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church and the denomination’s North Georgia Conference has been filed in Cobb Superior Court, and reveals more details beyond last week’s general announcement.

Mt. Bethel UMC, Dr. Jody Ray
Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel UMC

We’re reading through the full 125-page settlement (you can read it here), but the main terms are what was divulged last week—Mt. Bethel gets to keep its property and most assets and has 120 days from Monday, when the agreement was signed, to pay $13.1 million to the North Georgia Conference.

Mt. Bethel also will return certain intellectual property, including items with UMC insignia, and will officially remain part of the denomination until its obligations under the settlement are met.

After that, Mt. Bethel’s use of its property on its main campus on Lower Roswell Road will come with some restrictions.

That includes not using any of the parcels comprising the main church buildings and the Mt. Bethel Christian Academy as a headquarters or office for any religious denomination for seven and a half years.

Mt. Bethel has been an organizing member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, which recently launched the Global Methodist Church, an international consortium of conservative congregations.

But Mt. Bethel officials say that once the congregation has left the UMC, it will become an independent church.

Mt. Bethel also is prevented from selling the Lower Roswell Road properties for seven and a half years without giving the UMC and the North Georgia Conference the right of first refusal to purchase them.

Once Mt. Bethel completes the real estate closing, the organization will become Mt. Bethel Church Inc. with a trade name of Mt. Bethel.

The settlement stipulates that other properties near the main campus—three homes on Fairfield Drive, an older adult center, a day care center and the Mt. Bethel church cemetery on Johnson Ferry Road—can be sold at any time.

However, those facilities also may not be used to house a denominational office.

Mt. Bethel’s North campus on Post Oak Tritt Road is not included in the settlement because church leadership last year placed the facility under the ownership of Mt. Bethel Christian Academy.

The North Georgia Conference objected to that action, since there wasn’t a vote taken by the congregation, which was required by the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing documents.

The settlement terms also include a provision that information collected through discovery will not be shared or discussed by any of the parties.

A preamble to the settlement notes that “both sides plan to look forward and honor the mission and ministry of each other as Christians. Accordingly, the Parties shall encourage their members to focus on the mission of Jesus Christ and not the past actions and alleged transgressions of each another, as referenced in the civil action now being mutually resolved.”

Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, North Georgia Conference UMC
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, North Georgia Conference UMC

In a letter to Mt. Bethel members on Monday, pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, explained the terms, and concluded by saying that “we reiterate our great hope in the future of Mt. Bethel’s mission and ministry to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which we pray each and every one of you will be a part of.”

The Friends of Mt. Bethel, a group of church members opposed to the church’s actions against the North Georgia Conference, said that “while the settlement agreement may not be what we had hoped for, it does not change who we are. We are the beloved sons and daughters of the King. We will continue to pray for you as you prayerfully consider your steps forward. God has a place for all of us.”

They will be meeting next week with Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the North Georgia Conference at another Methodist church in East Cobb.

It was her reassignment of Ray to a non-ministerial post at the North Georgia Conference in May 2021 that set off a heated dispute lasting more than a year.

Mt. Bethel was among the conservative UMC congregations anticipating that the denomination would allow gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages, which are currently forbidden.

After Ray turned in his UMC ministerial credentials, he delivered a sermon in which he said he would not “bow the knee, or kiss the ring, of progressive theology. . . . which is no theology.”

Mt. Bethel kept him as CEO and lay pastor, positions the North Georgia Conference said weren’t allowed under the Book of Discipline.

After Mt. Bethel refused to acknowledge his appointed successor, Rev. Dr. Stephen Usry, the Conference announced it would seize the church’s assets.

After mediation failed last summer, the Conference sued Mt. Bethel in September 2021, and Mt. Bethel filed a countersuit.

The United Methodist Church had scheduled a vote on protocols for separation in 2020, but its conferences have been delayed until 2024.

There won’t be a vote for Mt. Bethel to disaffiliate, as has happened with some churches in the North Georgia Conference recently.

Mt. Bethel’s attorneys said they wanted to have a vote of its membership, but the North Georgia Conference did not schedule one.

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Mt. Zion UMC offering diversity scholarships for East Cobb students

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Mt Zion United Methodist Church

Mt. Zion United Methodist Church in East Cobb is offering diversity scholarships to students in the area as part of its Life Skills Outreach Ministry.

It’s an extension of the church’s racial unification (RU) team that was formed in 2021, “to raise awareness of the issues facing historically marginalized populations.”

This year, the ministry “wishes to demonstrate the compassion that will benefit deserving students from our community.”

The ministry’s mission statement is that “We truly love others, recognizing our differences. We will listen intently, learn what others need, lament when others suffer or struggle, and leverage our gifts to help everyone, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Five college scholarships of $1,000 each will be distributed for the upcoming school year, and applications will be received through June 15.

They are merit-based scholarships for students in the East Cobb area, including the Sprayberry, Wheeler, Lassiter, Pope, Kell and Walton high school attendance zones.

Students receiving the scholarships must be enrolled in an institution of higher education for the 2022-23 academic year.

The RU team will review the applications and announce the recipients by Aug. 15. The RU team also will provide one-on-one mentorship for the scholarship recipients for life skills, character development and spiritual growth.

For more information and to apply, click here.

 

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Mt. Bethel Church to keep property, pay $13.1M in settlement

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Mt. Bethel Church

Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church has finalized a legal settlement with the denomination’s North Georgia Conference that will allow the congregation to keep its property and assets at its two East Cobb campuses.

In return, Mt. Bethel will pay the Conference $13.1 million as it begins to leave the denomination following more than a year of highly charged rhetoric and legal action.

Robert Ingram, the lead attorney for Mt. Bethel, told East Cobb News on Thursday that the settlement has been agreed to by both parties, and awaits formal signatures.

He said once those signatures have been collected, he expects to file a motion in Cobb Superior Court early next week to finalize the agreement, and that it will take up to 120 days to become official.

Also next week, Ingram said, Mt. Bethel will be known only as Mt. Bethel Church, another significant step toward separating itself from the UMC, the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination.

Ingram said Mt. Bethel will have up to 120 days to submit the payment to the North Georgia Conference, and will be conducting a fundraising drive.

“They’re going to be out of the UMC,” Ingram said of Mt. Bethel, which has been seeking in its lawsuit a vote to disaffiliate.

Mt. Bethel was sending out word to its members and the public Thursday about the agreement, which was forged after several weeks of discussions facilitated by Cobb Superior Court Senior Judge Mary Staley.

The settlement announcement comes as the North Georgia Conference is holding its annual meeting in Athens, with more than 70 congregations requesting disaffiliation.

Mt. Bethel is not among them, due to the litigation. A tentative agreement was announced in early May, but no terms were disclosed.

Last September, the Conference sued Mt. Bethel after several months of contentious actions and public statements over the denomination’s reassignment of Mt. Bethel senior pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray.

When Ray refused, Mt. Bethel announced its intention to disaffiliate from the UMC. Mt. Bethel and Ray claimed they weren’t properly consulted by the North Georgia Conference, which each spring makes clergy assignments based on the UMC’s “itinerant ministry” tradition.

Mt. Bethel’s conservative leadership also has been at odds with the UMC over theological disputes that include the ordination of gay clergy and performing same-sex marriages. 

Currently, the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing documents forbid both, but the denomination is expected to change its policies.

Mt. Bethel has been a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a consortium of conservative Methodist churches that have been planning to create a new denomination called the Global Methodist Church. 

After mediation failed last summer, the North Georgia Conference filed suit in Cobb Superior Court attempting to seize Mt. Bethel assets and property valued at $35 million.

The denomination also claimed that Mt. Bethel was not a church in good standing, including its refusal to accept Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, the Conference’s appointed successor to Ray, and was not eligible for disaffiliation.

The national UMC has been preparing for a split with more conservative congregations for several years. But international conferences to consider its Protocol for Separation and Reconciliation have been postponed due to COVID-19 measures.

When a conference scheduled for September was pushed back to 2024, the Global Methodist Church announced it was accelerating its launch to May.

On Wednesday, Wesleyan Covenant Association leader Keith Boyette—also a member of Mt. Bethel’s legal team—became the GMC’s senior executive and administrative officer, overseeing the denomination’s transition over the next 12-18 months.

Ingram told East Cobb News that because of the settlement, there won’t be a disaffiliation vote. He said Mt. Bethel wanted that to happen, especially because it would have cost “millions and million of dollars less” than what’s been settled.

“We wanted the court to allow a vote just on disaffiliation,” he said, explaining that only the North Georgia Conference superintendent could call for a such a vote.

“Despite our pleas, they never did that,” Ingram said. 

He said Mt. Bethel has not decided whether or not to pursue membership in the Global Methodist Conference.

Mt. Bethel, with nearly 10,000 members, is the largest congregation in the North Georgia Conference, which oversees nearly 900 churches.

Before the lawsuits, North Georgia Conference records indicated that Mt. Bethel was more than $2 million behind in making annual “apportionment” payments dating back a couple of decades.

A more recent update shows that Mt. Bethel paid only $24,037 of the $627,889 of assigned apportionments in 2021, the lowest dollar figure and percentage (3.8 percent) in records dating back to the early 1990s.

None of the churches seeking disaffiliation this week are in Cobb, and many are splitting over similar differences in theology as Mt. Bethel. Late Thursday, North Georgia Conference delegates voted to accept the disaffiliation requests, including Sardis UMC in Buckhead and Ebenezer UMC in Roswell.

A group of Mt. Bethel members opposed to the church’s handling of the controversy sent out a message Wednesday under the headline “What Now?” The group has been meeting with Usry, who gave the sermon at a special Easter service for them at Collins Memorial UMC in Atlanta.

“Many of us have big decisions to make, and those decisions should be made with a heart of discernment,” said the message of the Friends of Mt. Bethel group. “Under the direction of Pastor Steven we are working to help members of our faith family determine how to move forward, and to take care of each other during this time.”

As for Usry, the Friends of Mt. Bethel said that technically, he is assigned to Mt. Bethel through June 30, 2023. It’s not clear how the settlement will affect his status.

“He will be available to serve any church members, or former church members, during this transition,” the Friends of Mt. Bethel message stated. “He will be working with Friends of Mt. Bethel UMC members to try to discern how we can best support our community during this time.”

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Mt. Bethel Church, North Georgia UMC agree to settlement terms

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Mt. Bethel Church

Nearly a year after a contentious dispute began between Mt. Bethel Church in East Cobb and the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, the two sides are close to reaching a legal settlement.

A tentative agreement has been reached following lawsuits filed in Cobb Superior Court last fall.

A joint statement issued late Thursday from the North Georgia Conference—which oversees nearly 800 churches, including Mt. Bethel—and the church reads as follows:

“The Trustees of the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church and Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church have jointly agreed to the general terms and framework of a full resolution of their pending dispute. All parties now look forward to the resolution of the civil litigation. We ask members of our faith communities for their prayers and patience during this time as we prepare formal documents to bring this dispute to a close.”

Tom Cauthorn, the lead attorney for Mt. Bethel, released an additional statement Friday:

“The parties are pleased to have reached a full settlement in principal that should allow them to return their focus to their true missions. It is also important to recognize the efforts of Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley for her willingness to spend several days meeting with the parties and attorneys in mediation, leading to this resolution.”

The details of the terms were not disclosed.

Jonathan Lawson, an associate pastor at Mt. Bethel, told East Cobb News that “beyond those two statements, we are unable to comment at this time, but will be happy to speak further with you at a future time as we progress.”

Mt. Bethel members were told Thursday night during an administrative council meeting about the proposed settlement.

Attorneys for Mt. Bethel and the North Georgia Conference have been meeting with Staley after a hearing in March in which they asked her to oversee settlement discussions.

The North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel last September after months of conflict over reassigning its top clergy and a failed attempt at mediation. The regional denominational leadership has claimed it is the rightful owner of Mt. Bethel properties and assets it values at $35 million.

Mt. Bethel countersued, saying the Conference was engaging in a “fraudulent conspiracy” and demanded an accelerated vote to disaffiliate from the UMC.

Mt. Bethel, the largest congregation in the North Georgia Conference with more than 10,000 members, is a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a consortium of conservative Methodist churches that has been preparing for the creation of a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church.

Delegates to the United Methodist Church were to have voted on a set of protocols to allow more conservative congregations to leave in 2020, but its conference has been delayed several times due to COVID concerns and has been rescheduled for 2024.

The GMC moved up its activation date from September to May 1.

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East Cobb Church plans taking shape after rezoning conflict

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Jamey Dickens, East Cobb Church
Rev. Jamey Dickens 

Before a lengthy process that culminated last fall in controversial fashion, East Cobb Church Senior Pastor Rev. Jamey Dickens was fond of saying of his congregation that “we want to love where we live.”

The leader of the newest of the North Point Ministries family of churches said community goodwill has been a focal point of its efforts to build a new facility at Johnson Ferry and Shallowford roads.

During months of delays for site plan and other revisions, Dickens said that “I had so many personal conversations [with nearby residents]. I walked in the neighborhood.”

But while nearby residents had no issue with the church, some heatedly objected to the high-density residential component of the mixed-use development, as well as traffic and stormwater issues.

And they were incensed in October when a site plan was filed days before Cobb commissioners were set to vote on the rezoning case, and without seeking community input.

Commissioners voted 3-1 to approve the project, which includes 44 townhomes and 51 single-family detached homes in a zoning category opponents said is too dense for the community.

“I never wanted people to feel divided,” he told East Cobb News in a recent interview.

But he said taking the time to work through site plan, traffic and stormwater details were worth it.

“I’m proud of the fact that we did spend so much time talking about it,” Dickens said. “That’s what the process is there for, and I do think it made [the development] better.”

In December, North Point completed the purchase of all 24 parcels of the 33-acre tract from the land development company of retired attorney Fred Hanna and his wife’s homeless ministry non-profit for an estimated $10 million, according to county deed records.

The Hannas insisted on selling their land all at once, complicating the rezoning case. A leader of a group of residents in opposition publicly stated it may not have been approved had a church not been applying. So did a member of the Cobb Planning Commission.

The Cobb Republican Party came out in opposition to the rezoning, and the case has been caught up in East Cobb Cityhood politics.

The Committee for East Cobb Cityhood has cited the North Point rezoning as an example of the need for more local control of planning.

But a resident near the North Point development, attending a meeting of the anti-Cityhood East Cobb Alliance, said his concerns about the rezoning were satisfied and “it made me a believer in local government” at the county level.

Dickens said the church has submitted an application for a land disturbance permit, and groundbreaking for the 125,000-square-foot church building and accompanying parking lot could take place by the end of the year.

North Point has sold 20.3 acres of the property assemblage for for the residential portion to be developed by Ashwood Atlanta.

A floodplain study was completed by the Federal Emergency Management Administration to determine the number of homes that could be built.

Cobb government spokesman Ross Cavitt said in a statement that the study “apparently resulted in a larger floodplain than expected, resulting in the loss of 20 units by the developer.”

We’re working to get more details of the site plan changes that have been made since the post-rezoning review process.

Dickens said a “conservative” estimate for the church opening would be in the first quarter of 2024.

“We’re taking it one step at a time,” he said.

Meanwhile, East Cobb Church is continuing to hold Sunday afternoon services at Eastside Baptist Church.

(On Easter Sunday, however, the church will have a 10:30 a.m. service at East Cobb Park.)

Dickens said the church currently has around 600-700 members, and it could grow to more than 1,000 in the new building.

“We just want to be a church that loves our community,” he said.

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Mt. Bethel Church, UMC ask Cobb judge to settle lawsuits

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Mt. Bethel Church UMC seek settlement
An overflow crowd in Cobb Superior Court prompted the hearing to be livestreamed.

The nearly year-long feud between Mt. Bethel Church of East Cobb and the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church may be settled soon.

At a hearing in Cobb Superior Court Tuesday, attorneys for both sides said they were dropping motions and delaying depositions as they try to resolve deep divisions over governance of the Conference’s largest congregation and how to determine ownership of Mt. Bethel’s properties and assets.

The attorneys also asked Judge Mary Staley Clark to mediate upcoming meetings as settlement talks begin.

The North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel last September after months of conflict over reassigning its top clergy and a failed attempt at mediation. The regional denominational leadership has claimed it is the rightful owner of Mt. Bethel properties and assets it values at $35 million.

Mt. Bethel countersued, saying the Conference was engaging in a “fraudulent conspiracy” and demanded an accelerated vote to disaffiliate from the UMC.

But in a packed courtroom on Tuesday morning, the charged rhetoric that has been exchanged between the two sides for several months was replaced by conciliatory language and a desire to iron out their differences.

Robert Ingram, chief attorney for Mt. Bethel, told Clark that the ideal way to reach an agreement is “with your persuasion rather than your orders.”

After reading through a proposed joint consent order, Clark said she would do that, and asked to meet with attorneys and parties for both sides separately.

(You can read the documents filed with the court on Tuesday here and here. You can also read all the court filings by clicking here and entering case number 21106801.)

The motions that were dropped include requests by North Georgia Conference Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, Superintendent Jessica Terrell and its board of trustees not to be joined together as defendants as well as Mt. Bethel’s motion for a default judgment.

Those parties will have 30 days to respond to Mt. Bethel’s countersuit, and discovery can continue through Oct. 15.

The order also states that no vote to close Mt. Bethel—which the Conference had threatened to do—will take place at its annual meeting this summer.

The Conference includes nearly 800 churches. Mt. Bethel has nearly 10,000 members on its two campuses on Lower Roswell Road and Post Oak Tritt Road.

During discovery, Mt. Bethel attorneys had subpoenaed at least one church member and requested documents from the Conference to its officials and other Mt. Bethel members as well as former Senior Pastor Randy Mickler.  

It’s been 11 months since Haupert-Johnson tipped off the controversy by reassigning Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor, to a non-ministerial position at the Conference office in Atlanta.

He and Mt. Bethel objected, saying they weren’t properly consulted. Ray turned in his UMC ministerial credentials and was hired by the church as a CEO and lead pastor, actions the Conference said were not allowed in its Book of Discipline governing documents.

Doctrinal disputes within the UMC have been building for several years, notably over gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages, both of which are prohibited by the Book of Discipline.

But Mt. Bethel and other conservative Methodist churches have been anticipating that would change. 

The UMC was to have voted on a protocol allowing them to leave the denomination in 2020, but COVID-19 concerns have prompted delays.

Mt. Bethel is a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a consortium of conservative Methodist churches that has been preparing for the creation of a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church.

When the UMC announced last month it was delaying its general conference again, to 2024, due to COVID-related travel issues, the GMC said it would move up its official activation date from September to May 1.

Among the leaders of the GMC is Keith Boyette, the WCA founder and a member of Mt. Bethel’s legal team. 

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Mt. Bethel UMC lawyers seek documents sent to former pastor

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Steven Usry, appointed Mt. Bethel pastor
Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, appointed Mt. Bethel senior pastor

Former Mt. Bethel UMC senior pastor Randy Mickler is among the church and denominational leaders named in a request for documents in the congregation’s legal battle with the North Georgia Conference.

So is Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, whom the Conference appointed to serve as Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor nearly a year ago, touching off a dispute that has landed in Cobb Superior Court.

A filing there on Wednesday by Mt. Bethel is requesting that the North Georgia Conference provide unspecified documents sent to them and other individuals as the discovery process continues.

The North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel last September after months of conflict over reassigning its top clergy and a failed attempt at mediation.

Mt. Bethel is seeking an expedited vote to disaffiliate from the UMC in its countersuit, as well as recovering church assets and properties claimed by the Conference.

As East Cobb News reported last week, Judge Mary Staley Clark has scheduled a hearing on March 15 to consider motions in both suits. Both sides are seeking injunctions to be considered the week of April 25, according to court filings.

Mt. Bethel claims that the Conference engaged in a “fraudulent conspiracy” to strip the church of its properties, valued at nearly $35 million.

The documents request also seeks Conference documents sent to Mt. Bethel member Donna LaChance.

She’s part of the Friends of Mt. Bethel, a group of church members opposed to the actions by the congregation’s leadership.

LaChance has been outspoken on the topic, telling East Cobb News in an interview last June that the rift has “torn apart” a church community of nearly 10,000 members.

All of those named in the documents request are non-party individuals, meaning that they’re not part of either lawsuit. So is another church member who has retained an attorney after being issued a subpoena by Mt. Bethel lawyers to appear at a deposition.

That deposition, which seeks communications between the member and Conference officials as well as Usry, has been delayed to March 16.

Mickler was Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor for 28 years, and was succeeded in 2016 by Rev. Dr. Jody Ray.

Last April, Ray refused a reassignment from the Conference and turned in his UMC ministerial credentials. Mt. Bethel hired him as a CEO and lead pastor, moves the Conference says violate the UMC’s Book of Discipline governance procedures.

As East Cobb News has previously reported, Mt. Bethel is declining to provide office space and a fall salary to Usry. He’s also had the support of Mickler and has met with Mt. Bethel members off campus.

Usry also is considered a theological conservative, which is among the sticking points in the dispute.

Mt. Bethel is a conservative congregation and a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association. Its leader, Keith Boyette, is a member of Mt. Bethel’s legal team.

The WCA was formed in 2016 as theological differences in the UMC began to widen.

They center in particular on ordaining gay and lesbian clergy and performing same-sex marriages, both currently forbidden by the UMC.

But conservatives anticipate that changing, and also formed a more conservative denomination, the Global Methodist Church.

On Thursday, the Global Methodist Church announced it was formally launching on May 1. That follows the decision by the UMC to postpone its General Conference to 2024 due to continuing travel issues related to COVID-19.

That conference was to have been held in 2020, with a vote likely on allowing conservative churches to leave.

(You can read the Mt. Bethel documents by clicking here and entering case number 21106801.)

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As Mt. Bethel UMC lawsuits proceed, church member subpoenaed

by

Mt. Bethel Church

Attorneys for Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church have issued a subpoena for a church member and may call others for depositions as lawsuits proceed involving the East Cobb congregation and the denomination’s North Georgia Conference.

A deposition with the church member that was scheduled for Wednesday has been delayed to next Tuesday after she retained a lawyer, according to filings in Cobb Superior Court.

(You can read the Mt. Bethel documents by clicking here and entering case number 21106801.)

The North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel in September after months of conflict over reassigning its top clergy and a failed attempt at mediation (you can read the lawsuit here).

In addition to trying to recover church assets and properties claimed by the North Georgia Conference, Mt. Bethel is demanding in its countersuit (you can read that here) that it vote to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church before the denomination’s scheduled General Conference meeting in September.

The Mt. Bethel church member is addressed in the subpoena as a “non-party,” meaning she is not a defendant or other party in the suits.

She was ordered to appear at the offices of Mt. Bethel’s attorneys with communications between her and “any agent of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church” regarding Mt. Bethel or the lawsuit.

The subpoena also ordered her to provide communications between her and Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, the appointed senior pastor at Mt. Bethel that the church has refused to accommodate, as well as Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson and superintendent Jessica Terrell of the North Georgia UMC.

The church member also was ordered to provide communications between her and members of the press and between “you and with any person since Jan. 1, 2018” regarding Mt. Bethel or the suit.

Cobb Superior Judge Mary Staley Clark has scheduled a March 15 hearing to consider motions in a lawsuit filed against Mt. Bethel by the North Georgia Conference, as well as Mt. Bethel’s countersuit. Both sides are seeking injunctions to be considered the week of April 25, according to court filings.

Mt. Bethel leadership has called a church administrative council meeting for Sunday at 4 p.m. in the sanctuary on the main campus (4385 Lower Roswell Road).

On Friday, Mt. Bethel’s lead attorney sent a congregation-wide e-mail explaining that the process of collecting documents and testimony from “from individuals and entities they believe may have knowledge of relevant facts” is part of every lawsuit, “and such requests are in no way accusatory, nor should assumptions be drawn based upon them.”

That message, written by Robert D. Ingram of the prominent Marietta law firm of Moore, Ingram, Johnson & Steele, added that “while the inconvenience and disruption caused by the discovery process is unfortunate, it is an important tool for developing and preserving relevant facts. It is in this way that the truth both comes to light and may then be presented in a court of law.”

‘What purpose is served by this?’

Mt. Bethel members who are against the actions by church leadership have formed a group called the Friends of Mt. Bethel, and on Tuesday sent out an e-mail denouncing the subpoena of the church member.

“Our church is using this legal process to go after some of its own members, people who are in no way responsible for any of the decisions at issue in this lawsuit,” said the Friends of Mt. Bethel e-mail.

The message acknowledged that while issuing subpoenas to its members is legal, “it should never have happened. These members are not parties to the lawsuit, and they had no involvement in the decisions at issue in the case. Their private messages should not have been requested by Mt. Bethel, nor should the Conference have shared them without a court order.

“Imagine the amazement, concern, and fear when people realize their own church has served them legal papers and that they must now obtain legal counsel. What purpose is served by this?”

Mt. Bethel, with nearly 10,000 members, is the largest of the 800 congregations comprising more than 300,000 members in the North Georgia Conference.

The Mt. Bethel dispute arose in April 2021, when Haupert-Johnson reassigned Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor, to a non-pastoral post in the North Georgia Conference office.

Mt. Bethel refused the reassignment of Usry to replace him, alleging the church was not properly consulted. Ray turned in his UMC ministerial credentials and was hired by Mt. Bethel as a lead pastor and CEO.

The church also declined to provide Usry office space or pay his full salary. Although he has met with Mt. Bethel members elsewhere since his appointment, he said he is staying away from the Mt. Bethel premises during the legal dispute.

Mt. Bethel’s countersuit lists North Georgia UMC leadership as defendants, as well as five “John Doe” defendants it describes as “unknown individuals or entities who conspired with the other counterclaim and third-party claim defendants and engaged in the wrongful conduct described herein.”

According to Mt. Bethel, North Georgia UMC officials and other defendants in the Mt. Bethel countersuit “agreed, schemed, combined and aspired . . . to prevent Mt. Bethel’s disaffiliation vote and to take its property.”

After declaring it was not a church in good standing, the North Georgia Conference concluded that “exigent circumstances” prompted it to possess Mt. Bethel properties and assets, and ordered it closed.

Claims of ‘fraudulent conspiracy’

Mt. Bethel claims that’s part of a “fraudulent conspiracy” to strip the church of those properties, valued at nearly $35 million by the North Georgia Conference.

Activities at the main Mt. Bethel campus on Lower Roswell Road and another property on Post Oak Tritt Road are continuing, and Ray remains in the positions created for him.

The North Georgia UMC said those actions and others, including Mt. Bethel’s treatment of Usry, violate the denomination’s Book of Discipline governing procedures.

Nearly 200 UMC delegates are asking that the General Conference be delayed to 2024 due to continuing COVID-19 issues.

That policy-making body was originally scheduled to meet in 2020, but has been delayed by COVID-19 concerns.

The UMC—the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S.—has been roiled in recent years by conflicts over theological issues, particularly gay and lesbian clergy and performing same-sex marriages.

The UMC currently bans both, but conservative congregations, including Mt. Bethel, formed the Wesleyan Covenant Association in 2016, anticipating that would change.

The North Georgia Conference claims churches not in good standing are not eligible to have a disaffiliation vote.

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