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.
The United Methodist Church was scheduled last year to begin implementing a “Protocol for Reconciliation through Grace and Separation.”
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. ”
Nursery services will be available for those attending in person. The event also can be seen on four of the church’s streaming platforms: live.mtbethel.org, online.mtbethel.org, Mt. Bethel Church Facebook Live, and Mt. Bethel North Facebook Live.
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