On Sunday September 19, Habitat for Humanity of NW Metro Atlanta and the Cobb Interfaith Habitat Coalition (CIHC) dedicated the coalition’s 21stHabitat home in Austell. The house was the first build started in 2021.
Future Homeowner Rachel Coates has built alongside coalition volunteers for nine weeks and is looking forward to moving into her own home with her children. Rachel is a 47-year-old single mom to Jeremy (13), and Polleen (12), and she works as a caregiver at Arbor Terrace at Burnt Hickory.
The Kenya native has lived in Cobb County for 13 years. Their family currently lives in a two-bedroom apartment in Marietta, which has become too small for them. She is very grateful for the opportunity to partner with Habitat and is excited about her future prospects of finally owning her own home.
The 2021 Coalition includes 12 religious organizations and four corporate members.
Faith partners include:
First Presbyterian Church of Marietta
St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic Church
Unity North Atlanta Church
Covenant United Methodist
McEachern United Methodist
Due West United Methodist
Smyrna First United Methodist
Bethany United Methodist
Temple Kol Emeth
Log Cabin Community Church
St. Catherine’s Episcopal
East Cobb Islamic Center
West Cobb Islamic Center
Corporate sponsors include:
Moore Colson CPAs and Advisors
Pinkerton & Laws
Truist (BB&T)
Atlanta West Carpets
The annual coalition uses the motto, “We Build to Coexist, We Coexist to Build.”
“For 21 years, this faithful, cross-denominational coalition has represented the best of our county, and always finds a way to build, no matter the challenges,” said Coalition co-chair and Habitat board member, Henry Hene. “It was very rewarding to again be building side by side with this special homeowner who worked so hard to make a better life for the next generation.”
“For more than two decades, this coalition has been a light in this community and a shining example of what people can do when they come together to improve lives,” said Jessica Gill, CEO, Habitat for Humanity of NW Metro Atlanta. “We are grateful for their unwavering dedication to our mission and bettering our community though stable and sustainable housing.”
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The Southeast Region of the Anti-Defamation League isn’t satisfied with the initial response from the Cobb County School District regarding anti-Semitic incidents at Pope and Lassiter high schools.
Superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday the students responsible have been identified and are facing disciplinary action, and Cobb Board of Education chairman Randy Scamihorn said he is crafting a resolution to address anti-Semitism.
But Thursday night, ADL vice president Allison Padilla-Goodman said in a statement that those responses don’t go far enough:
“It’s disappointing that after multiple antisemitic hate incidents in Cobb County schools this month, the Board of Education has still not indicated how it will respond. This goes beyond antisemitism — for years, incidents of racism, sexism, homophobia, and overall hate have gone unaddressed in county schools, and the disregard shown by the board illustrates a pattern of neglect in countering hate.
“If Cobb County’s goal is ‘One team. One goal. Student success’, disciplining those responsible for the hate incidents is not enough, a community-wide response that uses education is necessary. Stating values in a symbolic resolution is only part of combatting hate — we hope that the future actions from Cobb Schools contain commitments to action to achieve those values. The Cobb County community deserves a real response from their Board of Education and a commitment to specific actions and educational initiatives which can address the hate in their schools.”
Several members of the public, including two rabbis in East Cobb, spoke during the two board meetings Thursday about anti-Semitic experiences they or their children have had in schools. Some urged the board to introduce a broad educational program throughout the district going beyond anti-Semitism.
Until earlier this year, the Cobb school district had made use of the ADL’s “No Place for Hate” initiative, but that has been discontinued. More from the ADL statement:
“Beyond these recent antisemitic incidents, many Cobb County parents feel that the school district has a history of incidents of racism, sexism, homophobia, and overall hate, and a record of failing to effectively address those incidents.”
The statement included a video link provided by Stronger Together, which focuses on racial justice in Cobb schools, with parents making public comments expressing frustrations with how the board has handled some of those matters.
Ragsdale said he could not provide details about the disciplinary action but stressed that the Cobb school district “does not and will not tolerate hate in any form.”
Scamihorn, who attended a Yom Kippur service at Temple Kol Emeth last week, said his resolution is still in the works and that he wants to “take the time to do it right.”
He didn’t specify what elements and language might be included in that resolution.
In 2020, the Cobb school board could not reach a consensus on an anti-racism resolution in response to the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis that sparked nationwide protests.
Democratic members Jaha Howard and Charisse Davis insisted on language that said that the Cobb school district has a history of “systemic racism” and urged the district to undertake “targeted anti-racist programs and policy.”
Republicans, including Scamihorn, objected, saying those words and demands undermined the ability to send a unified message.
The ADL is asking parents, students, teachers and staff to report hate incidents at its online portal.
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“We are united in our disappointment” by the response of the Cobb school district, Congregation Etz Chaim Rabbi Daniel Dorsch told the Board of Education Thursday.
Cobb County School District superintendent Chris Ragsdale said Thursday that student disciplinary charges have been brought in anti-Semitic incidents at two East Cobb high schools, but he didn’t elaborate.
Ragsdale said during a Cobb Board of Education work session Thursday afternoon that student disciplinary procedures required by state law preclude him from providing further information.
He also asked school board members to refrain from making public comments about the situation unless and until after any students subjected to disciplinary action would have an opportunity to appeal.
“The district does not and will not tolerate hate in any form,” Ragsdale said, reading from prepared remarks.
Before a public comment period at the work session, board chairman Randy Scamihorn said he was preparing a resolution condemning anti-Semitism but that it wasn’t ready.
There was nothing specific on the board’s meeting agendas about the anti-Semitic incidents at Pope and Lassiter.
Ragsdale’s comments came after several public commenters, including two rabbis in East Cobb, were critical of the district for its response to swastika and “Heil Hitler” graffiti found at Pope and Lassiter high schools over the last two weeks.
Those incidents also took place amid more general vandalism in lavatories as part of a social media stunt on the Tik Tok application that’s spread nationwide.
He said the district’s disciplinary recommendation is “sufficiently significant that the board’s members could likely hear it on appeal.
“I realize this may have begun as some kind of social media dare,” Ragsdale continued, saying that while such incidents are extremely rare in a school district with more than 100,000 students, “this district refuses to dismiss this incident as as some kind of prank.”
Those were his first public remarks since the incidents took place at Pope and Lassiter. Jewish and community leaders decried an earlier district reference only to “hate speech” and a similar response from Pope principal Thomas Flugum that didn’t specify anti-Semitism.
Lassiter principal Chris Richie did specify anti-Semitism in his letter to the school community, but Jewish leaders and community figures speaking before the board Thursday continued to express displeasure.
Rabbi Daniel Dorsch of Congregation Etz Chaim in East Cobb said he was speaking on behalf of several Jewish organizations that were “united in our disappointment” that “the school’s response specifically failed to address the hate by name—anti-Semitism, hatred against Jews.
“The failure by the administration to label it by name has left us feeling unheard and unseen.”
Rachel Barich, a past president of Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb, recalled an incident when her brother experienced an anti-Semitic vandalism of his locker after his Bar Mitzvah. That prompted their parents to pull them out of public schools in the St. Louis area.
“The district has a responsibility. There is much more work to be done,” said Barich, whose children are Cobb public school graduates.
“No child should attend a school full of hate and none of us can continue to believe that the problem has gone away.”
Scamihorn attended a Yom Kippur service last week at Kol Emeth at the invitation of Rabbi Larry Sernovitz, who thanked him at the board meeting. They have been discussing a possible resolution.
But Sernovitz also demanded specifics of what the school district would be undertaking along safety and educational lines.
“Right now, some of our students don’t feel safe in schools in Cobb County,” Sernovitz said. “It starts with swastikas and grows from there.”
Cobb schools parent Keith Hanks referenced the 1915 lynching of Leo Frank, a Jewish pencil factory manger, at a spot near what is now Roswell Road and Frey’s Gin Road in Marietta.
“The wounds of Leo Frank still ring true today,” Hanks said. “Cobb does not get the luxury to kick the can [down the road] because of its past.”
Scamihorn said he wants to discuss his resolution with colleagues and “take the time to do it right” before he brings it to the board for action. “But I wanted our community to hear that from me.”
At the Thursday evening school board meeting, Lassiter sophomore Hannah Levy said that as a Jew, she and some of her fellow Jewish students “do not feel safe at Lassiter.”
She said her parents were concerned about her speaking out, and that she’s afraid to wear her Star of David necklace to school.
“What is the school board going to do to fix this,” she said. “The longer you wait the more it’s going to fester.”
Levy said she and other Lassiter students want anti-hate and Holocaust education to be provided throughout the Cobb school district.
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As we reported over the weekend, the chairman of the Cobb Board of Education appeared at a Yom Kippur service in East Cobb last week following two anti-Semitic incidents at nearby high schools.
When East Cobb News spoke with Randy Scamihorn, who was invited to the high holy day service at Temple Kol Emeth by Rabbi Larry Sernovitz, we asked if he was considering asking the school board to issue a statement about the discoveries of swastikas and “Heil Hitler” scrawlings at Pope and Lassiter high schools.
Leadership teams at the individual schools are conducting investigations.
Scamihorn condemned the attacks, saying those who committed them are “woefully ignorant of what the swastika means.”
As chairman he could bring an item to Thursday’s school board meeting agendas unilaterally, but said in our interview Friday that “at this time, I’m going to let the investigations play out.”
On Sunday, Kol Emeth and other Jewish organizations in metro Atlanta launched an online petition that’s already surpassed 1,700 signatures out of a targeted 2,500:
“We are asking the Cobb County School Board and its associated schools to recognize and condemn all forms of antisemitism that occur on campus and to allow school principals the authority to condemn these acts and offer programming to proactively educate the student body and community about antisemitism and to prevent further occurrences.”
The groups include the Atlanta Initiative Against Anti-Semitism, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) and other metro Atlanta synagogues.
Sernovitz and other Jewish leaders have been critical of the Cobb school district’s response, saying a message by Pope principal Thomas Flugum didn’t specify that they were anti-Semitic incidents.
The Cobb school district issued a response that didn’t make a reference to anti-Semitism but only to “hate speech” and urged “families to talk to their students about the impacts of inappropriate and dangerous trends circulating on social media.”
In a statement issued Monday, Lauren Menis, a co-founder of the Atlanta Alliance Against Anti-Semitism said the following:
“In refusing to call out the hate by name, as antisemitism, the Cobb County School Board is sending a clear message that these acts of hate are not significant. This is a teachable moment, and we need to seize it. By not naming it and not allowing anti-hate educational programming to address this in their schools, the schools have denied a valuable opportunity to help students learn from these events. Downplaying hate is unacceptable. We will hold Cobb County’s school board accountable. Their silence is unacceptable.”
The Cobb school board is delaying its September meetings—a work session at 2:30 p.m. and a business meeting at 7 p.m. Thursday—by a week in observance of Yom Kippur.
That schedule change was announced last Monday, after the Pope incident. On Wednesday, Lassiter school officials announced a similar incident had taken place.
Also on Monday, the Democratic House Leadership Caucus of the Georgia legislature issued a statement condemning the Pope and Lassiter incidents, including David Wilkerson and Erica Thomas of South Cobb.
Democrat Jon Ossoff, Georgia’s first Jewish U.S. senator, also condemned the Cobb incidentsin a Yom Kippur appearance at a Sandy Springs synagogue.
The Pope PTSA organization is planning a Nov. 20 event in response to the anti-Semitic incident there that will include a campus cleanup project as well as assemblies involving faith leaders from local Jewish, Catholic and Episcopalian congregations.
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“Like many non-Jews, I am woefully inadequate in my knowledge of the Jewish religion,” Scamihorn said Friday in an interview with East Cobb News.
“I saw it as an opportunity to enhance my education.”
He said he was pleasantly surprised not just at the invitation to attend, but to take a leading part in one of the most meaningful aspects of the Yom Kippur observance.
Sernovitz and others in the local Jewish community are pushing for that receptiveness to spread throughout the community, and in particular the Cobb County School District.
But Sernovitz and other Jewish leaders said the district’s response has been inadequate. In a letter to the Pope community, principal Thomas Flugum didn’t specify the anti-Semitic nature of the graffiti, which included swastikas and “Hail Hitler” written above urinals.
Cobb school board chairman Randy Scamihorn
Similar scrawling took place in a boys bathroom at Lassiter, where principal Chris Richie was specific, and further denounced the “deplorable symbols and language.”
Later, the Cobb school district issued a response that didn’t make a reference to anti-Semitism but only to “hate speech” and urged “families to talk to their students about the impacts of inappropriate and dangerous trends circulating on social media.”
The incidents took place apparently as part of a stunt on the Tik Tok social media app in which students vandalize school property and boast about it.
The Pope PTSA organization is planning a Nov. 20 event in response to the anti-Semitic attack that will include a campus cleanup project as well as assemblies involving faith leaders from local Jewish, Catholic and Episcopalian congregations.
It’s called “Team Up to Clean Up: Building Relationships through Service,” and details will be forthcoming, said Kelley Jimison, a Pope parent who’s leading the organizing effort.
“I see it as an opportunity to teach our students lifelong lessons,” she said. “What matters to me is that we have a chance to turn this around and make positive change out of this.”
Jimison stressed that what happened at Pope involved only a small number of students on a campus of around 2,000 students.
What she calls “a lesson in solidarity” is already taking place, as Pope students and staff produced the video below this week.
At an earlier Yom Kippur service on Thursday. Sernovitz addressed a congregant who’s soon to be Bar Mitzvahed and applauded him for being “proud of his Judaism” as he attends school.
“We’re proud of the education that you gave to your fellow students,” said Sernovitz, who also thanked parents for “staying strong and raising your kids in the face of indignity.”
Sernovitz was traveling this weekend and could not be reached for comment.
The Cobb school board will be meeting next Thursday, at which public commenters are expected to address the anti-Semitic incidents.
In speaking with East Cobb News, Scamihorn was reluctant to say whether he may bring forward an item condemning the attacks.
As chairman he can do that unilaterally, but said that “at this time, I’m going to let the investigations play out.”
Those responsible for the incidents, he said, are “woefully ignorant of what the swastika means.”
Board vice chairman David Banks, whose Post 5 in East Cobb includes the Pope and Lassiter attendance zones, also condemned the incidents, saying it’s “disappointing that we have students who would do something like that.”
What they did, Banks said, “has no Christian values.”
But he said the district processes for investigating alleged student misbehavior need to be followed, and that he’s not sure of all the details.
“We’re not going to hash it out in public,” Banks added, saying that by doing so it might become a national story. “It’s a local issue. Let the schools take care of it.”
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The principal at Lassiter High School informed his school community Wednesday afternoon that anti-Semitic graffiti was found earlier this week in restrooms.
“In both locations, the deplorable symbols and language were behind stall doors,” Richie wrote in a letter that has been posted on the Lassiter PTSA Facebook page.
He said the discovery was the result of an organized effort that began Monday to monitor student activity, especially in restrooms, following the Pope incident.
Richie said Lassiter restrooms have been checked on an almost hourly basis during the school day, and that school officials are reviewing video footage and conducting an active investigation into the anti-Semitic messages. The Lassiter resource officer also has filed a report.
“I am both angered and saddened by the appearance of symbols and words of hatred in our school and community,” Richie wrote. He added:
“When hate and ignorance surface in our school, we ask that parents engage in meaningful conversations and dialogue with your children. I can cite the Cobb County School District’s Administrative Rule that these hate symbols/speech violate, and I can talk to students in the morning over the announcements about repercussions for this despicable act; however, for these disgusting acts to stop, we must all come together as a school and a community to commit that Lassiter High School will be a safe, respectful environment for all students, faculty, and staff. We must work together to teach our students to be better.”
The Lassiter letter comes as Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, begins, lasting from sunset Wednesday to sunset Thursday.
On Tuesday, the Cobb Board of Education announced it was delaying its scheduled monthly meetings on Thursday by a week in observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.
Both Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb, who visited with Pope students, and the Anti-Defamation League in Atlanta said the Cobb County School District response to the Pope incident was insufficient.
The ADL issued a particularly scathing statement, saying the school board’s recent decision to ban Critical Race Theory “could tie their hands in responding to and countering incidents of hate through educational initiatives for the school community.”
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The day after Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church was sued by the denomination’s North Georgia Conference, Pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray sent a letter to the East Cobb church’s membership, accusing Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of “a power play.”
Rev. Dr. Jody Ray at a prayer service at Mt. Bethel in July.
The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, seeks Mt. Bethel property and assets, as the denomination has claimed is its right under the UMC Book of Discipline governing document.
Ray resigned his UMC ministerial credentials this spring after being reassigned out of Mt. Bethel by Haupert-Johnson, touching off a fierce public controversy that has landed in court, after a failed attempt at mediation.
“So here we are today, mired in what many would characterize as a conflict over ‘appointments and property,’ ” Ray wrote in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by East Cobb News (you can read it here).
He then wrote the following:
“Well, it is! But it’s for so much more than that. Describing our present challenges that way would be like saying Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott was all about where African-Americans could sit on the bus. Well, it was—but it was about so much more!”
He went on to explain how that event, in 1955, at the start of the modern Civil Rights movement, “changed the course of history for our nation.” Ray continued:
“Mt. Bethel, our conflict may center around ‘appointments and property,’ but it’s about so much more! It’s about contending for our faith.”
Referring to Mt. Bethel, he wrote toward the end of his letter that “our stand today—united in Christ—as proclaimed in the Scriptures will not only impact today but will also have an impact on generations of Christians in this community and globally in the future.”
You can read the lawsuit in full by clicking here; the case has been assigned to Cobb Superior Court Judge Mary Staley but no initial hearings have been scheduled.
Some prominent Marietta legal teams have been hired on both sides. The North Georgia Conference has hired Cauthorn Nohr & Owen, led by former Cobb Superior Court Judge Thomas Cauthorn.
Mt. Bethel has retained the law firm of Moore, Ingram Johnson & Steele.
On Monday, Keith Boyette, the head of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, filed an application in Cobb Superior Court seeking pro hac vice admission. That’s when an attorney not licensed in a particular state asks to be admitted in a special instance.
The WCA is a consortium of conservative UMC congregations who’ve been planning in recent years for disaffiliation over theological disputes, centered highly on gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages.
Mt. Bethel has been a leading member of WCA and has been a host of its annual conference. The church’s public comment issued after the lawsuit was filed urged for a vote for disaffiliation. The national UMC is to consider approving a protocol for that process in September 2022.
In his Cobb court filing, Boyette noted that he’s a qualified attorney licensed to practice in Virginia and that he has been retained by Mt. Bethel.
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The Cobb County School District said Monday is it pushing back the Cobb Board of Education’s monthly meetings in September due to Yom Kippur, the holiest observance of the Jewish calendar.
The board’s work session and voting meeting were to have taken place Thursday, but that’s during Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement. Instead, those meetings will take place next Thursday, Sept. 23, at 2:30 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively.
Yom Kippur begins at sunset Wednesday and continues through sunset Thursday.
From a Cobb school district release Monday afternoon:
“We recognize that Yom Kippur is of vital importance to our Jewish community members and have decided to postpone our regular meeting to ensure that as many of our community members as possible can participate.”
The district’s announcement also said that “while we understand that this schedule change may cause inconvenience to some, the Board and District are committed to making our meetings as inclusive as possible.”
There were two swastikas scrawled above urinals with the words “Hail Hiter!,” and prompted a visit to the campus Friday by Rabbi Larry Sernovitz of Temple Kol Emeth in East Cobb.
The Southern Division of the Anti-Defamation League in Atlanta said on Monday that the Cobb school district’s response to the Pope incident was inadequate.
In a Friday letter to assistant superintendent Christian Suttle, ADL regional vice president Allison Padilla-Goodman was critical of the district for failing to specify the incident as being anti-Semitic.
She said it was a decision that “could tie their hands in responding to and countering incidents of hate through educational initiatives for the school community.” More from Padilla-Goodman:
“This is a direct example of how these shortsighted, politically-driven policies will have a detrimental impact on our children — antisemitic incidents, and hate of all forms, must be called out and countered as teachable moments and through educating the school community to create equitable, inclusive environments where all students can learn and thrive.”
She also noted that Cobb has dropped a public education campaign, “No Place for Hate,”that the ADL had offered to school districts.
There will be a special school board meeting this Thursday at 2:30 p.m. for a student disciplinary matter that is closed to the public.
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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.
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.”
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Rev. Dr. Jody Ray at a prayer service Sunday at Mt. Bethel UMC.
From a statement issued Wednesday by the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church:
The Board of Trustees of the North Georgia Conference and Mt. Bethel UMC have issued the following joint statement:
Mt. Bethel UMC and the North Georgia Conference of The United Methodist Church have jointly agreed to use their best efforts to resolve an ongoing dispute through a mediation process and will refrain from public comment on this matter until the mediation process has concluded. Mt. Bethel Christian Academy will also be included in the mediation process.
East Cobb News has left messages with Mt. Bethel and the Conference seeking additional information about the mediation process, which was not described in their statement.
The mediation agreement comes after several months of an open dispute between the East Cobb congregation and the local denomination office, often with pitched rhetoric and competing press releases.
In April, North Georgia Conference Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson reassigned Rev. Dr. Jody Ray to a non-ministerial position with the Conference. But Mt. Bethel balked, saying Ray was not properly consulted about the move.
He turned in his UMC ministry credentials and was retained by Mt. Bethel as a lay minister and CEO.
Haupert-Johnson said those moves went against the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing document. She also said the church created a new organizational structure and declined to provide Rev. Dr. Steven Usry, who was reassigned to Mt. Bethel, office space and to pay him a full salary.
Those were actions the Bishop cited in moving earlier this month to seize Mt. Bethel assets and install denominational management of the church, which has nearly 10,000 members and is the largest of the North Georgia Conference’s 800 congregations.
Mt. Bethel also has stated an intent to disaffiliate from the national UMC, which is scheduled to vote next year on a process for conservative congregations to leave.
The issues are over doctrinal differences, including gay clergy and performing same-sex marriages, both of which are currently banned in the UMC.
Mt. Bethel has been a leading force in the Wesleyan Covenant Association, which is planning on forming the Global Methodist Church after any UMC separation.
In his first sermon since resigning from the UMC, Ray addressed his children by saying he would never “kiss the ring of progressive theology.”
Haupert-Johnson also declared earlier this that Mt. Bethel is a church “not in good standing,” which could prevent it from disaffiliation.
On Sunday, Mt. Bethel held a community prayer service in its main sanctuary, with Ray saying that “what the world needs now is a courageous church that is willing to stand up for what is right, for what is true.”
Former Johnson Ferry Baptist Church pastor Bryant Wright also told the Mt. Bethel congregation to prepare for “spiritual warfare,” which he said “intensifies when God’s about to do something good.”
The Mt. Bethel-Conference mediation announcement also did not detail anything more about why Mt. Bethel Christian Academy is involved in the process.
But in explaining its decision to seize assets, the Conference said that Mt. Bethel signed a 20-year lease of property to the Academy “without complying with the policies outlined in the Book of Discipline.”
The K-12 school, which holds classes at the main Mt. Bethel campus and on a facility on Post Oak Tritt Road, had 680 students in the 2020-21 school year.
In 2018 it was the only school located in Cobb County to be named a National Blue Ribbon School by the U.S. Department of Education.
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Former Johnson Ferry Baptist Church pastor Bryant Wright said “spiritual warfare intensifies when God’s about to do something good.”
A number of members of the clergy, both in-person and virtually, spoke to members of Mt. Bethel Church during a special community prayer service on Sunday.
The service took place in the church’s main sanctuary on Lower Roswell Road, and lasted more than two hours (you can watch a full replay here).
Mt. Bethel organized the service after officials with the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church moved earlier this month to seize the East Cobb congregation’s assets and install denominational leadership over the church.
It was the latest move in an ongoing feud between the Conference and Mt. Bethel, which announced its intent to disaffiliate after Senior Pastor Dr. Jody Ray was reassigned this spring.
Ray resigned his UMC credentials instead and is remaining as a lay minister and CEO at Mt. Bethel, which said it would defend itself in court if Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the North Georgia Conference takes legal action.
Ministers as far away as Africa and Brazil as well as metro Atlanta and Georgia spoke via recorded remote messages.
Those speaking to church members from the pulpit were eagerly applauded not just for their calls for prayer and uplift, but for defiance against denominational edicts.
“Realize who your enemy is,” said Rev. Bryant Wright, the retired founding pastor of Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. “It is not the Bishop, it is the devil.”
Rev. Dr. Jody Ray
His lengthy remarks included a call to Mt. Bethel members to prepare for “spiritual warfare,” which he said “intensifies when God’s about to do something good.”
Wright read from Ephesians 6:10, which implored Christians “to stand firm,” and after referencing Protestant dissidents Martin Luther and John Wesley, Wright told Mt. Bethel members they should be thankful for a leader in Ray.
“When a leader is accused of division, that is straight from the evil one,” Wright said.
Former Mt. Bethel member Chuck Savage, the pastor at Sardis UMC in Atlanta, encouraged the present congregation “to stand firm on the gospel.” He referenced comments from President Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War that “our concern is that we always be on God’s side because God is always right.”
Ray spoke briefly near the end, saying that “courage in moments like this doesn’t come from within ourselves. It’s the presence of Christ. O, that God would find us faithful in this hour.”
He added that “what the world needs now is a courageous church that is willing to stand up for what is right, for what is true.”
Ray then led the congregation in the Lord’s Prayer and offered a benediction.
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Leaders of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church have organized a community prayer event Sunday as members of the East Cobb congregation “navigate the challenging circumstances facing their church community.”
A 90-minute guided prayer session will be led by 18 leaders of faith communities in the Marietta area “and around the world,” according to a release issued Thursday morning by Mt. Bethel.
The prayer event starts at 6 p.m. in the main sanctuary at Mt. Bethel (4385 Lower Roswell Road) and is open to the public.
Wednesday marked the deadline given Mt. Bethel by the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church to turn over property and assets in a long-running dispute between the two parties.
Last Monday, July 12, Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the North Georgia Conference gave Mt. Bethel 10 days to make that transition in announcing that denominational leadership will be overseeing day-to-day operations of the church.
Instead, Mt. Bethel fired back three days later, saying the bishop was making a “false declaration” to seize assets, and that the church was prepared to defend its legal rights in court if she acted on the seizure.
East Cobb News left messages Thursday with the North Georgia Conference and Mt. Bethel seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for the North Georgia Conference would say only that “as I have a status update or helpful information I’ll share.”
The conference and Mt. Bethel have been feuding since Haupert-Johnson reassigned Senior Pastor Jody Ray in April, exacerbating longstanding theological issues and the prospect of Mt. Bethel disaffiliating from the UMC.
Mt. Bethel, with nearly 10,000 members, is the largest of the 800 congregations in the North Georgia Conference.
Mt. Bethel has refused to provide newly appointed Senior Pastor Steven Usry office space and his full salary, and Ray, who turned in his UMC ministerial credentials, is remaining as the church’s CEO and chief lay minister.
The North Georgia Conference said those actions, and others, violate the UMC’s Book of Discipline governing structures.
Mt. Bethel, which claims the bishop did not properly consult with Ray over the reappointment, declared in May its intent to disaffiliate.
Mt. Bethel is a charter member of the Wesleyan Convenant Association, which is aiming to form what’s being called the Global Methodist Church made up of conservative congregations.
That’s a formal split in the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. (around 12 million members), in which some churches would pull away over theological differences, including issues involving the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy and allowing same-sex marriage.
In a sermon delivered after his reappointment, Ray 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.”
In her actions on June 12, Haupert-Johnson said Mt. Bethel also was not a church in good standing. Churches that are not in good standing in the UMC are not eligible for disaffiliation.
In announcing Sunday’s community prayer event, Mt. Bethel said that those attending “will focus on a particular aspect of heavenly-minded HOPE as a confident expectation and dynamic assurance of things unseen providing strength, courage and boldness for the future. ”
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Mt. Bethel leaders are asking members to update their social media accounts to show their support for the church.
The leadership of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church has provided a lengthy update to members about the decision by the Bishop of the North Georgia Conference to seize the East Cobb church’s property and assets.
In an FAQ format posted on the church website, Mt. Bethel claimed that Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson made a “false declaration” in declaring that “exigent circumstances” were present in order for her to seek an asset seizure, and for the conference’s board of trustees to take over church operations.
The decision was announced late Monday, and Mt. Bethel issued a heated response via a press release.
In the FAQ posted Wednesday, Mt. Bethel said that declaration “has been refuted in complaints that are presently under review by a higher authority,” a reference to the Southeast Jurisdiction College of Bishops of the United Methodist Church.
“As such, her actions are in disobedience to the order and discipline of the UMC,” read the Mt. Bethel update.
It continued that there are three complaints before the College of Bishops, and that Mt. Bethel has been seeking a “civil mediation process” that Haupert-Johnson has ignored.
In her announcement Monday, Haupert-Johnson said while the asset seizure and management takeover are immediate, Mt. Bethel has 10 days to make the transition.
In its update Wednesday, Mt. Bethel said that if the bishop “chooses to take legal action, we are prepared to defend our rights through the Georgia courts.”
The statement concluded:
“Mt. Bethel’s leadership remains undeterred in their trust of the Lord’s providence and protection, and faith in the protocols and processes of due process afforded the Church by the UMC Book of Discipline, and are grateful for the prayerful support of members, local ministry partners and community faith leaders,” read the statement.
East Cobb News has left messages with North Georgia Conference and Mt. Bethel leaders to get more information about some of these issues and others.
But neither side has responded to requests for interviews or information. Both continue to issue competing, strongly-worded statements, through the media and, in the case of Mt. Bethel’s Wednesday statement, directly to its membership.
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The Board of Trustees of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church has voted to seize the assets of Mt. Bethel UMC and will operate the church effective immediately, the latest move in an escalating crisis with the East Cobb congregation.
In a statement issued late Monday, North Georgia Conference Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson said that “exigent circumstances” prompted the move, after Mt. Bethel strongly and publicly refused to accept the appointment of a new senior pastor, and made other moves she said violated the denomination’s Book of Discipline governing document.
Other details of the “exigent crisis” were explained at this Q & A, which include claims that Mt. Bethel leaders signed a 20-year lease of property to its Mt. Bethel Christian Academy “without complying with the policies outlined in the Book of Discipline” and planned “to use credit lines, transfer interests in assets, and sell property” without getting proper approval from the Conference.
The North Georgia Conference statement said that Mt. Bethel leaders and attorneys were notified Monday by Conference attorneys that the property seizures are immediate, and that the church has 10 days to complete the transfer.
According to UMC policies, individual congregations do not own properties or assets but are held in trust for the denomination.
The Monday decision means, according to the Conference, that it holds title to real, personal, tangible and intangible property.
“Unless this crisis is resolved by that time, the annual conference in June 2022 will decide whether to formally close the local church,” the Conference said. “In the meantime, the conference Board of Trustees will control all of the assets.”
Mt. Bethel church activities and operations will continue under the management of the trustees, according to the statement. This is the first time the North Georgia Conference has undertaken such a seizure.
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson
“The Trustees are mindful of the concerns of employees, families, and members of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church and the families connected to the Mt. Bethel Christian Academy,” according to the statement, which you can read in full here. “Employment, instruction, activities, and worship at the church and Academy will continue, but under the direction and control of the Conference Board of Trustees.”
A Mt. Bethel statement issued Tuesday accused Haupert-Johnson of “engaging attorneys to go to civil court to seize assets that the faithful people at Mt. Bethel have freely and joyfully given for sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and deed: assets which will become property of Mt. Bethel once it completes a process for disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church, initiated in April 2021. The Bishop is purposely delaying that process.”
The Mt. Bethel statement said the bishop “continues to escalate a crisis of her own” and that the church “will do all in their power to resist the aggressive actions against their church, and they will do all they can to restore the reputational damage Haupert-Johnson is inflicting on many local United Methodist churches that simply want to do ministry without the drama of her intrusive and threatening actions.”
The Mt. Bethel statement also said that she “hastily initiated an ill-timed and an ill-considered move that not only jeopardizes great ministry and missions at Mt. Bethel but also the health and reputation of her entire annual conference.”
East Cobb News has contacted the Conference and Mt. Bethel for further comment and information on the transition process.
The Conference statement Monday said that Mt. Bethel was notified on June 18 to resolve the issues surrounding the appointment of Rev. Dr. Steven Usry as the new senior pastor, effective July 1. They included the church’s refusal to provide office space and pay him a full salary.
In addition, Mt. Bethel retained senior pastor Dr. Jody Ray, who had been reappointed by the bishop to a non-ministry role with the Conference on racial reconciliation issues.
He refused, turned in his UMC pastoral credentials and was named the Mt. Bethel CEO.
In a pastoral letter sent out in late June, Haupert-Johnson said these moves were not in accordance with the Book of Discipline.
The Conference statement on Monday said Mt. Bethel leaders did not respond to the June 18 letter.
The Mt. Bethel Q & A prepared by the North Georgia Conference said Mt. Bethel also has been notified that it is not a church in good standing.
Mt. Bethel held a press conference in April announcing its intention to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church, but that action cannot happen until after the UMC General Conference in September 2022.
UMC churches not in good standing are not eligible for disaffiliation, according to denominational policies.
The UMC, the nation’s second-largest Protestant denomination, has been roiled by theological disputes in recent years.
That vote was to have taken place in 2020, but due to COVID-19 concerns the UMC General Conference has been delayed until next year.
Mt. Bethel, with 10,000 members, is the largest church in the 800-church North Georgia Conference and is a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, which is made up of more theologically conservative congregations.
Should Mt. Bethel disaffiliate, it is likely to join the Global Methodist Church, a theologically conservative organization that is not an official denomination but that is planning to begin operations after the Protocol is approved.
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After being cancelled last year for the first time since the Civil War, the Marietta Campmeeting resumes this week through July 18.
The 183rd edition of the religious revival starts Friday with an opening picnic from 6-7 p.m., followed by the opening service at 7:30 p.m.
The full schedule can be found here, with two services daily and three on Sunday.
As in years past, the schedule includes children’s services, an ice cream social and tentholder meetings. After Saturday night’s service, there will be a watermelon-cutting.
The campmeeting dates back to 1837, shortly after Cobb County was formed out of Cherokee County. During those times, Methodist ministers traveled widely as “Circuit Riders,” since many communities did not have their own clergy.
Most of the events are free and open to the public. The Campmeeting grounds are located at 2300 Roswell Road, across from East Cobb United Methodist Church.
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The Rev. Dr. Steven Usry was to have been a part of “moving day” on Thursday in the United Methodist Church.
July 1 is the calendar date that UMC clergy take up new appointments, and Usry was to have moved into space at Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in East Cobb.
He was appointed to oversee the largest congregation in the UMC’s North Georgia Conference in April by Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson.
But Mt. Bethel leadership’s dramatic and public decision to oppose his appointment has led to Usry having limited responsibilities for the time being.
The 10,000-member congregation has been roiled by Haupert-Johnson’s decision to reassign Dr. Jody Ray, the congregation’s senior pastor for the last eight years, to a non-ministerial role in the North Georgia Conference.
While Usry’s appointment is being accepted under protest by Mt. Bethel, he has been told there’s no office available for him at the main church campus on Lower Roswell Road. He’s also being paid only a portion of his salary while his Ray, his predecessor, remains in a prominent role.
Usry sent out a letter on Thursday addressed to the “Mt. Bethel family” expressing his disappointment with the opposition and his hope that the dispute can be resolved.
“For the past few months, I have been concerned that the present crisis would only get worse,” Usry wrote in the letter, in which he identifies himself as the Mt. Bethel senior pastor.
“Unfortunately, the actions by some at Mt. Bethel only exacerbate an already unhealthy situation,” he continued in the letter, a copy of which was obtained by East Cobb News.
He wrote that “the best path forward would have been to embrace healthy and Biblical pastoral tradition. Yet I know Mt. Bethel to be a great church. I am FOR Mt. Bethel. I will continue to seek solutions to the present crisis and will not be deterred.”
How many of Mt. Bethel’s nearly 10,000 members got the letter is uncertain. In sending his letter to those members for whom he has contact information, he noted in an e-mail that he had not been provided the church’s official e-mail address list and membership database.
Sybil Davidson, a spokeswoman for the North Georgia Conference, told East Cobb News that “the situation at Mt. Bethel is developing” and said that “the Conference is supportive of Rev. Dr. Steven Usry and appreciative of his faithfulness. Conference leaders are assessing the situation.”
She later provided East Cobb News a copy of a pastoral letter written Friday by Haupert-Johnson and addressed to “North Georgia United Methodists.”
She responded to Mt. Bethel’s actions by saying that “the United Methodist Church does not handle decisions, staff structure, nor compensation in this manner.”
The bishop wrote that “I am deeply concerned about the decisions being made by a small group of leaders at Mt. Bethel. These decisions appear to be in violation of the Book of Discipline [the denomination’s governing and doctrinal document]. I am also troubled that these decisions by a small group of leaders may not reflect the will of the Mt. Bethel congregation.”
She further stated that “I would emphasize that this crisis is unrelated to disaffiliation or theology. What has occurred is simply a rejection by the leadership at Mt. Bethel of the rules and procedures for our church as outlined in the Book of Discipline and amount to an obstruction of the appointment process and polity of The United Methodist Church. The appropriate Conference agencies are evaluating the proper response.”
(Haupert-Johnson’s full pastoral letter can be read by clicking here.)
On Thursday East Cobb News contacted Mt. Bethel leadership for a response to Usry’s letter, but has not heard back as of mid-afternoon Friday.
Part of the dispute concerns doctrinal issues regarding gay clergy and same-sex marriage that has been splitting the United Methodist Church in recent years.
Ray and Mt. Bethel also have protested that the bishop made the reassignment without proper consultation, and filed a grievance against her and a superintendent of the North Georgia Conference.
Ray also surrendered his UMC ministerial credentials and has been retained by Mt. Bethel as a pastor and CEO.
Larger concerns by Mt. Bethel and other conservative UMC churches stem from what they view as the denomination moving away from traditional interpretations of Christian scripture.
The denomination was to have held a conference this year to begin a disaffiliation process for churches wishing to leave, and Mt. Bethel, a conservative congregation, has been considered likely to do that.
But the conference has been postponed to 2022 due to COVID-19 measures, and in a press conference at the church in May Mt. Bethel announced its intent to disaffiliate.
Mt. Bethel is a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a conservative organization created in 2016 that wants to establish what it calls the Global Methodist Church.
While disaffiliation cannot happen for another year, some Mt. Bethel members have urged the leadership in the interim to accept Usry, who resigned as senior pastor at Sugarloaf UMC in Duluth in May.
He’s considered a conservative theologically and among his supporters is Randy Mickler, who was Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor for 28 years.
But a Mt. Bethel member who spoke with East Cobb News said the church is being unfairly portrayed.
He said that while Usry “seems like a nice guy, he’s forcing himself on us.”
The Mt. Bethel member, who called Haupert-Johnson a “heretic,” claims a vast majority of members support church leadership and said there’s nothing draconian going on within the congregation.
“We’re a good-hearted church,” he said, adding that he’d be inclined to find another church home if Usry’s appointment is upheld, and many others would follow.
“They’re playing hardball,” the member said, referring to the North Georgia Conference. “They’re not giving me a choice.”
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“The community smothered me with love,” said Lachance, identifying herself as the hiker who was assisted off the Gold Branch Trails last August after hurting an ankle.
The social and civic bonds of belonging to one of East Cobb’s biggest faith communities are a major part of the draw for Lachance and her husband Frank, who’ve been Mt. Bethel members for 15 years.
She’s also served on the church staff as a photographer and in communications, and has been involved in other ministries.
What Lachance hadn’t done until recently is delve into the politics of a church with nearly 10,000 members.
But for the last two months, Mt. Bethel leaders, clergy, staff and members have been in an uproar over a decision by Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church to reassign Senior Pastor Jody Ray.
Mt. Bethel leaders also filed a formal complaint against the North Georgia Conference and said Ray would be staying on as CEO and lead minister.
Mt. Bethel is the largest of the 800 congregations in the North Georgia Conference, which has more than 340,000 members.
Mt. Bethel leaders have been vocal about theological disputes that have roiled the United Methodist Church in recent years, and that have prompted the denomination to set up a process to allow conservative congregations to leave.
Ferrell Coppedge, a member of the Mt. Bethel Executive Committee, also serves on the governing council of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a group of conservative UMC churches that formed in 2016. Mt. Bethel was the host for the WCA annual conference in 2018.
In April, in his first sermon since the dispute began, Ray addressed his children by saying that “your Daddy didn’t bow the knee, or kiss the ring, of progressive theology. . . . which is no theology.”
‘Divisive like we have never seen’
Next Friday, July 1, the pastor reassigned to Mt. Bethel, Dr. Steven Usry, formerly of Sugarloaf UMC in Duluth, is set to begin his duties in East Cobb.
With that deadline approaching, Lachance, her husband Frank and Mt. Bethel members Bob and Janet Graff distributed an open letter to several hundred other members, concerned that the church leadership’s refusal to adhere to the UMC Book of Discipline—the denomination’s governing and doctrinal document—could trigger legal action and escalate continuing battles that have been brewing for years.
“I hope we can come together and get it to stop before it destroys our 180-year old community of faith,” they wrote in the first paragraph of their letter.
“If we don’t accept Dr. Usry, the Bishop will have no choice but to invoke the exigency clause and sue to take control of all Mt. Bethel property which, as with all UMC churches, is held in trust by the conference,” according to the letter, a copy of which was obtained by East Cobb News.
“Both sides agree she will likely win.”
The letter, entitled “A Different Perspective,” accuses the Mt. Bethel Executive Committee—made up of seven church leaders—of trying to “drag this fight out, hoping to run out the clock, until the Protocol is passed. . . .
“We don’t know about you, but we haven’t asked for this fight, and we don’t want it,” the letter continued. “We don’t know who is going to pay the substantial legal costs. We do know that we will all pay the costs in terms of discord, uncertainty, and suspicion among people who, until this started, were loving Brothers and Sisters in Christ.”
East Cobb News has contacted the North Georgia Conference and Mt. Bethel leadership seeking comment.
Dr. Jody Ray turned in his UMC ministerial credentials after refusing a reassignment.
In an interview with East Cobb News, Lachance said she’s met with Usry, who’s considered a theological conservative, but not on the main Mt. Bethel campus on Lower Roswell Road.
She said he’s not been allowed to do that, and had been meeting with Mt. Bethel members at their request at nearby Mt. Zion UMC and neighborhood clubhouses in the East Cobb area.
“Saying you won’t accept a pastor isn’t something you can do,” Lachance said, adding that when Mt. Bethel leaders initially announced that decision, she wasn’t aware of that. “This is the bishop’s appointment to make.”
Lachance signed the open letter by citing Romans 13:1, which says, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.”
After attending a special town hall meeting held by church leaders last month, Lachance said her concerns grew.
“There was more to this story than what was being said,” she said, adding that she had kept an open mind about the dispute.
‘Not what Mt. Bethel is about’
Lachance said she admires Ray, calling him inspiring and saying he has been of great pastoral assistance to her family.
“I love Jody, he’s been great for Mt. Bethel,” she said. “But at this point we’re still United Methodists.”
What’s more, the full Mt. Bethel membership hasn’t weighed in on the matter, and a congregational vote would be required to disaffiliate. That can’t happen for at least another year.
“Basically, we’re being torn apart,” Lachance said. “I don’t know why we’re fighting this now.”
If that vote comes, Lachance predicted, “it will be divisive like we have never seen.”
Currently the Book of Discipline doesn’t allow for the ordination of gay clergy or performing same-sex marriage, but that could change should a new Protocol be approved.
Lachance said that “I don’t believe this is something our church should leave the denomination over.”
The Book of Discipline also has a specific paragraph allowing for disaffiliation for reasons concerning human sexuality.
“[Mt. Bethel leaders] will say it’s not just about that issue,” Lachance said. “But that’s how I feel it comes across.”
But she said her concerns are less about theology, but the procedural steps Mt. Bethel is taking now.
She said since her open letter went out this week, she’s heard from Mt. Bethel members who agree with her, but are reluctant to come forward.
“This is not what Mt. Bethel is about,” Lachance said. “We’re fighting ourselves instead of winning souls.”
‘A big test of our faith’
Church leadership created a petition against Ray’s reassignment that nearly 5,000 people have signed, but Lachance said there’s a considerable difference of opinion about how to proceed.
In their open letter, the Graffs and Lachances wrote that while Mt. Bethel leaders “are all good people, doing what they think God called them to do . . . we do not believe they should be taking us down this contentious path without a full, transparent discussion of the costs and benefits of doing so, and without listening to those who disagree.”
They also pleaded with their fellow members to tell the Executive Committee to pursue a different course: “If enough of us speak up, perhaps it will make a difference.”
Lachance said when she was picking up her husband on Friday from an activity at the main Mt. Bethel campus, she saw a fellow member who’s been a good friend, someone with whom she disagrees about how to resolve the congregational dispute.
“We just hugged and said we loved each other and had a very civil conversation,” Lachance said.
That’s the Mt. Bethel fellowship that she says has long nourished her as an evangelical Christian.
She thinks a lot of Mt. Bethel’s divisions “would go away” if Ray were to tell church members to embrace the new pastor, but she doubts that will happen.
“We are not winning a soul for Christ right now, and that’s what we’re called to do,” she said.
However, Lachance also is optimistic that Mt. Bethel will not stay this way.
“This is a big test our faith, but I do believe that we will get past this,” she said.
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Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel UMC senior pastor, is surrendering his ordination credentials and remaining with the church.
The day after announcing it was leaving the United Methodist Church, Mt. Bethel UMC filed a formal complaint against leaders in the denomination’s North Georgia Conference.
Mt. Bethel sent out out a release Tuesday morning saying a complaint had been lodged against North Georgia Conference Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson and Jessica Terrell, District Superintendent of the Central West District of the North Georgia Annual Conference.
The complaint alleges “Disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The United Methodist Church” for the reassignment of Mt. Bethel senior pastor Dr. Jody Ray. The complaint also accuses of Haupert-Johnson of “Relationships and/or Behaviors that Undermines the Ministry of Another Pastor.”
Mt. Bethel is saying that the North Georgia leaders went against stated UMC requirements (“Discipline”) to consult with congregations and pastors before making new appointments in reassigning Steven Usry of Sugarloaf UMC in Duluth to Mt. Bethel before either Dr. Ray or Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church were informed that a change in appointment was projected.
“Such notification and failure to consult denied the Committee on Pastor-Parish Relations of rights assured it by the Discipline and constitute disobedience to the order and discipline of The United Methodist Church.”
The Mt. Bethel statement on Tuesday said the complaints were filed to seek “a just resolution between the parties.”
Mt. Bethel leaders held a press conference Monday saying they were beginning the process of disafilliation from the United Methodist Church, the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with more than 12 million members.
Mt. Bethel has around 8,000 members and is the largest of the 800 congregations in the North Georgia Conference.
During Monday’s press conference, Ray said he was told he was given two options when informed of his reassignment to a racial relations role within the North Georgia Conference: Accept the new position or resign.
He said he was surrendering his credentials as an ordained minister in the UMC, and Mt. Bethel is retaining him as its CEO and lead minister.
In her response to the Mt. Bethel disaffiliation decision, Haupert-Johnson said the East Cobb congregation leaders threatened to “withhold compensation, benefits and any reimbursement for a new pastor. They warned that upon his arrival the church, its ministries, and its school will ‘most certainly be unstable and likely hostile.’ “
Her pastoral letter can be found here; Mt. Bethel is providing updates on the situation here.
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Dr. Jody Ray has been senior pastor at Mt. Bethel UMC since 2016.
Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church of East Cobb—the largest congregation in the North Georgia Conference—will be leaving the denomination.
Rustin Parsons, a lay leader of the 8,000-member church, said during a news conference Monday morning that Mt. Bethel was doing so over the North Georgia Conference’s decision to reassign senior pastor Dr. Jody Ray.
“We have begun the process to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church,” Parsons said in reading a statement in the church sanctuary.
“It’s time for us to part ways with the denomination.”
Ray also said at the news conference (you can watch it and read statements here) that he is surrendering his credentials as an ordained minister in the UMC. He will continue serving Mt. Bethel as CEO and lead minister.
Ray had been reassigned out of the ministry to a role with the North Georgia Conference staff in Atlanta involving racial reconciliation. The North Georgia Conference has 800 churches and more than 340,000 members, and every spring routinely reassigns clergy.
Steven Usry, the senior pastor at Sugarloaf UMC in Duluth, was appointed to succeed Ray at Mt. Bethel, starting in July. Usry was not mentioned at the Mt. Bethel news conference on Monday.
Parsons said that he was “dismayed” by the “abrupt” decision of Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson of the North Georgia Conference to remove Ray from Mt. Bethel.
“Despite our repeated requests to reverse course, she has refused,” he said, “or provide a reason or rationale for her capricious action.
“We have no intention of accepting another pastor.”
Ray, who came to Mt. Bethel in 2016, said he was told by Haupert-Johnson on April 5 of the reassignment, and said that her “hasty and ill-conceived action” has “undermined her credibility with the people of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church and jeopardized the health and vitality of this great congregation that is a beacon of hope and light in this community and beyond.”
He said he was not given a reason for his reassignment. In the United Methodist Church, ordained ministers are subject to what’s called the “itinerant ministry,” in which they are reassigned at the behest of the denomination.
“Unfortunately, my options were to accept the move, take a leave of absence, or surrender my credentials,” Ray said. “That’s not consultation, it is merely notification, and it violates both the spirit and letter of the covenants that bind us together.”
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson
In a statement issued by the North Georgia Conference, Haupert-Johnson said that “while it is painful for any church or pastor to leave the denomination, there are protocols in place to allow clergy and congregations to depart. These protocols include having at least two-thirds of the congregation vote for disaffiliation and the regional governing body approving the measure.”
In a pastoral letter she issued on Monday, Haupert-Johnson said Ray hung up on the North Georgia Conference superintendent who called him about the reassignment, saying he was interested only in staying at Mt. Bethel.
With more than 12 million members, the UMC is the second-largest Protestant denomination in the United States, behind the Southern Baptist Convention.
Before the COVID pandemic, the United Methodist Church nationwide was in turmoil over a number of theological issues, including the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy.
During his sermon last week, Ray addressed his children by saying that “your Daddy didn’t bow the knee, or kiss the ring, of progressive theology. . . . which is no theology.”
In her pastoral letter, Haupert-Johnson said Ray’s sermon “cast this as a ‘hostile takeover’ by an evil, ungodly woman bishop and denigrating The United Methodist Church.
“This reckless behavior has caused a great deal of pain to the congregation and threatens its covenant with The United Methodist Church.”
She further said that Mt. Bethel leaders:
“Refused to have any meaningful conversation, and instead threatened that $3-4 million would walk out of the church if they were not allowed to deviate from the appointive process and keep their pastor. When asked to further the consultation by submitting written concerns to the Cabinet, they gave no missional reasons against the appointment. The leaders wrote that they would withhold compensation, benefits and any reimbursement for a new pastor. They warned that upon his arrival the church, its ministries, and its school will ‘most certainly be unstable and likely hostile.’ “
In recent weeks Mt. Bethel, which is more than 175 years old, has changed some of its branding, calling itself “Mt. Bethel Church” on its website and social media channels.
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Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel UMC senior pastor, during his sermon on Sunday.
UPDATED, MONDAY, APRIL 26: Mt. Bethel announced it is leaving the United Methodist Church, and senior pastor Dr. Jody Ray is surrendering his credentials as an ordained minister in the denomination.
ORIGINAL STORY:
A new senior pastor has been appointed for Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in East Cobb, but the congregation’s leadership announced Sunday it is opposing the move.
A posting on the church’s Facebook page said that the church is informing Sue Haupert-Johnson, the bishop of the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church, that Mt. Bethel “is not in a position to receive a new senior minister at this time.”
Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor since May 2016, was among those reassigned in North Georgia Conference changes formally announced on Monday in what’s called “Clergy Move Day.”
Around 70 clergy were reassigned by the North Georgia Conference, which has 800 churches and more than 340,000 members.
Sybil Davidson, a spokeswoman for the Conference, told East Cobb News that reassignments are made every spring and that this is a lower figure than normal.
Appointed to succeed Ray, who was reassigned to a non-preaching position with the Conference staff in Atlanta, is Steven Usry, the senior pastor at Sugarloaf UMC in Duluth. The appointments are effective July 1, according to the North Georgia Conference.
Mt. Bethel is one of the largest churches in Cobb County with around 8,000 members and is the largest congregation in the North Georgia Conference.
“It’s always hard on congregations to lose a beloved pastor,” Davidson said, but that the appointment of Usry to Mt. Bethel stands.
East Cobb News has left messages with Mt. Bethel seeking comment.
The Mt. Bethel Staff Parish Relations Committee and Administrative Council are urging members to read and sign a petition “that affirms the SPRC’s and Administrative Council’s position. Our goal is to have as many signatures as possible by 5pm on Tuesday, April 20 – time is of the essence.”
More than 3,300 people have signed the petition, which says that having a new senior pastor would be too disruptive as Mt. Bethel is only recently returning to in-person services due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that “it is no secret these are very fragile times for our denomination.”
That’s a formal split in the second-largest Protestant denomination in the U.S., in which some churches would pull away over theological differences, including issues involving the ordination of gay and lesbian clergy and allowing same-sex marriage.
The UMC has delayed taking up the Protocol until its 2022 General Conference. Here’s more about the issue from Christianity Today.
During an emotional sermon on Sunday (you can watch it here), Ray announced that he declined his new appointment, and that the North Georgia Conference has not offered him another position.
“To those who helped orchestrate the events of today, I want you to know forgive you and I love you,” said Ray, who was stopped several times by applause.
He also directed a message from the pulpit to his family, saying, “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.”
With that, the audience gave him a standing ovation.
The Mt. Bethel petition indicated that “in the spirit of that Protocol, people of theologically diverse opinions and goodwill are striving hard not to disrupt the mission and ministries of those with whom they disagree. We, the people of Mt. Bethel UMC, are honoring that spirit in word and deed.
“So, in light of the challenges of the pandemic and in anticipation of an orderly and amicable separation of the United Methodist Church, we feel strongly that this is not the time for disruptive change in the senior leadership of our church.”
Mt. Bethel, which also oversees the K-12 Mt Bethel Academy on two campuses in East Cobb, employs around 300 people.
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