Mt. Bethel pastor likens church saga to Civil Rights movement

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.”

Mt. Bethel Church prayer service, Jody Ray — *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.