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.”
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., 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.
Get Our Free E-Mail Newsletter!
Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!
The Methodist were either right yesterday/today they can’t have it both ways.
So how do you determine what they teach today is wrong/right?
They can’t have it both ways…
Gary R. Matthews
Life long Methodist
Now I know that this UMC problem in Nigeria had it Root here
If you are not part of the UMC or the Mount Bethel congregation, this does not concern you, and you should not be commenting without the deep perspective the members have.
Um, no. Stop it.
I watched his “sermon.” He’s all about himself and is conning the members of that “church.” He reminds me of Boss Hogg—just another bigot wanting to turn back the clock and reverse progress.
Um, no. Stop it.
What a disgrace Dr. Ray is and how ashamed the members of Mount Bethel should be for peddling in hatred of people who are gay and lesbian.
That is totally false Joe Bob and I feel sure you know it. They refuse to accept homosexuality is not a sin. They are upholding the Discipline that was last reaffirmed by a majority vote in I believe 2019. It is you, the progressive left and even the Council of Bishops peddling the hatred idea. If you/they are so convinced you are right a method has been provided for churches that disagree to leave and form their own denomination. Take and end this.
Its not “hate”. Just because they do not think it appropriate to ordain gays does not equate to “hate”. Theological differences, yes. “Hate ” no.
She’s using the same techniques at other churches as well.
I do not doubt it but can your share specifics?
The bishop may believe she can thrust her views upon Mt. Bethel with her rook, Dr. Steven Usry, but Mt. Bethel will not bow so willingly. Dr. Usry would do well to reflect upon what he faces in this hostile takeover of the Mt. Bethel congregation. I would welcome splitting from the Progressive theologians such “Bishop” Sue Haupert-Johnson over this attempt to undermine Pastor Ray and the people of Mt. Bethel.
You, sir, need to get perspective. All UMC pastors have an oath to go where they are called. So you follow the book of discipline in excluding from the clergy and hating the LGBTQ community but then turn around and selectively ignore the oath of a pastor to serve where they are called. That’s hypocrisy and may you stand in judgment for your hatred of other humans before the Almighty.
Nobody is standing in judgement of other humans. We are all sinners.
Joe Bob – your comments are hateful and miss the mark completely.
Christianity (and other faiths) are anathemas to progressive ideology and are one of the foundational legs of the stool that also builds and grows families for the next generation.
However, Progressives don’t need to kill off the church anymore. Many so-called Christian churches are doing a fine job all by themselves as the Methodist leadership seems to be doing. Called to be salt and light to the world, to preach the truth about salvation and sin, and speak truth in love, many have decided to join the world in its spiritual decline. In doing so, they become nothing special that you can’t already get at the mall.
They are abdicating their key role in helping hurt and lost people find peace in their lives and reconciliation with their Maker.
No wonder Christianity is fading, even dying, in parts of America. People are looking for answers, and the church is failing them by becoming secular.
Fits the progressive’s plans without them hardly having to fire a shot. Amazing.
This has been brewing for years. The Bishops long ago stopped enforcing The UMC Discipline in the area of sexuality. In so doing they planted the seeds of this schism. If they had enforced the Discipline as written and affirmed at the most recent general conference vote there would be no need for this appointment. With due respect to Ms. Davidson, she and everyone else knows this is a vindictive appointment to silence a voice that disagrees with this Bishop.
And instead of them being honest and straight forward they are working in a way that they hope supporters of the Discipline will leave as opposed to leaving themselves. Does the name Judas ring a bell.