Mt. Bethel Church dispute

Top East Cobb 2021 stories: Mt. Bethel UMC-Methodist dispute

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Mt. Bethel Church

A dramatic and contentious battle involving one of East Cobb’s most prominent faith communities gained local and national headlines in 2021.

In April, Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church senior pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray was reassigned by the North Georgia Conference of the UMC as part of its annual “moving day” process of relocating clergy.

The denomination’s commitment to an “itinerant” ministry typically garners little controversy.

Ray had been in the job at Mt. Bethel—which has around 10,000 members—for six years, after previously serving as an associate under longtime Pastor Randy Mickler.

But in a social media posting, Mt. Bethel leaders said that the church “is not in a position to receive a new senior minister at this time.”

Mt. Bethel Church prayer service, Jody Ray
Rev. Dr. Jody Ray.

Within days, Ray had turned in his UMC ministerial credentials, Mt. Bethel had retained him in a CEO/lay leader role and declared its intent to disaffiliate from the denomination.

While the moves struck outsiders by surprise, the wheels had been in motion for a breakup for some years.

Like other Protestant denominations, the United Methodist Church has been roiled by theological disputes, in particular over gay and lesbian clergy and allowing same-sex marriages to be held in their churches.

In 2016, Mt. Bethel was a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, which is made up of theologically conservative churches laying the groundwork for a split in the Methodist faith.

The United Methodist Church was scheduled last year to begin implementing a “Protocol for Reconciliation through Grace and Separation.”

If approved by UMC delegates, it would set up a process to allow conservative congregations to separate, especially over issues of sexuality.

But COVID-19 issues have delayed that national conference until September of 2022.

In his first sermon since the dispute began, Ray looked at this children in the pews 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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Mt. Bethel leaders saw the reassignment of Ray by North Georgia Conference Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson as an attempt to head off Mt. Bethel’s disaffiliation—and in particular to keep the church’s property and assets, valued by the local denomination as around $35 million.

But Haupert-Johnson said Mt. Bethel’s actions violated the UMC’s Book of Discipline, its primary governing document, and she took action to seize assets and place the congregation under North Georgia Conference direction.

Mt. Bethel defied those orders and refused to accommodate or fully pay Rev. Dr. Stephen Usry, the Conference’s designated replacement for Ray. Haupert-Johnson ruled that Mt. Bethel was not a church in good standing, a requirement for disaffiliation.

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

In July, Mt. Bethel held a prayer service that included Rev. Bryant Wright, the retired founding pastor of nearby Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, who told attendees that “spiritual warfare intensifies when God’s about to do something good.”

A Mt. Bethel member who stood behind the church said in an interview with East Cobb News that the congregation was being unfairly placed in a poor light, and he referred to Haupert-Johnson as a “heretic.”

But some Mt. Bethel members disagreed with the church leadership, and came out publicly saying the dispute was ripping the congregation apart. They later formed a group called “Friends of Mt. Bethel” and warned that legal action would be costly and even more divisive.

Among those opposed to the current Mt. Bethel leadership was the now-retired Mickler, who presided at the church for nearly three decades.

Mt. Bethel and the North Georgia Conference tamped down their war of words temporarily over the summer as they entered a mediation process.

But those talks broke down, and on Sept. 8 the North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel over assets and property in Cobb Superior Court.

In its counterclaim, Mt. Bethel accused the North Georgia Conference of trying to “dry up” its resources “by deterring member contributions.”

In November, Mt. Bethel was allowed to hire the head of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a licensed attorney in Virginia, to serve on its legal team.

As the wheels of litigation began their slow grind, Mt. Bethel insisted that its members should be allowed vote on disaffiliation before the 2022 UMC national conference.

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