Mt. Bethel Church UMC seek settlement Archives

The nearly year-long feud between Mt. Bethel Church of East Cobb and the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church may be settled soon.

At a hearing in Cobb Superior Court Tuesday, attorneys for both sides said they were dropping motions and delaying depositions as they try to resolve deep divisions over governance of the Conference’s largest congregation and how to determine ownership of Mt. Bethel’s properties and assets.

The attorneys also asked Judge Mary Staley Clark to mediate upcoming meetings as settlement talks begin.

The North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel last September after months of conflict over reassigning its top clergy and a failed attempt at mediation. The regional denominational leadership has claimed it is the rightful owner of Mt. Bethel properties and assets it values at $35 million.

Mt. Bethel countersued, saying the Conference was engaging in a “fraudulent conspiracy” and demanded an accelerated vote to disaffiliate from the UMC.

But in a packed courtroom on Tuesday morning, the charged rhetoric that has been exchanged between the two sides for several months was replaced by conciliatory language and a desire to iron out their differences.

Robert Ingram, chief attorney for Mt. Bethel, told Clark that the ideal way to reach an agreement is “with your persuasion rather than your orders.”

After reading through a proposed joint consent order, Clark said she would do that, and asked to meet with attorneys and parties for both sides separately.

(You can read the documents filed with the court on Tuesday here and here. You can also read all the court filings by clicking here and entering case number 21106801.)

The motions that were dropped include requests by North Georgia Conference Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson, Superintendent Jessica Terrell and its board of trustees not to be joined together as defendants as well as Mt. Bethel’s motion for a default judgment.

Those parties will have 30 days to respond to Mt. Bethel’s countersuit, and discovery can continue through Oct. 15.

The order also states that no vote to close Mt. Bethel—which the Conference had threatened to do—will take place at its annual meeting this summer.

The Conference includes nearly 800 churches. Mt. Bethel has nearly 10,000 members on its two campuses on Lower Roswell Road and Post Oak Tritt Road.

During discovery, Mt. Bethel attorneys had subpoenaed at least one church member and requested documents from the Conference to its officials and other Mt. Bethel members as well as former Senior Pastor Randy Mickler.

It’s been 11 months since Haupert-Johnson tipped off the controversy by reassigning Rev. Dr. Jody Ray, Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor, to a non-ministerial position at the Conference office in Atlanta.

He and Mt. Bethel objected, saying they weren’t properly consulted. Ray turned in his UMC ministerial credentials and was hired by the church as a CEO and lead pastor, actions the Conference said were not allowed in its Book of Discipline governing documents.

Doctrinal disputes within the UMC have been building for several years, notably over gay and lesbian clergy and same-sex marriages, both of which are prohibited by the Book of Discipline.

But Mt. Bethel and other conservative Methodist churches have been anticipating that would change.

The UMC was to have voted on a protocol allowing them to leave the denomination in 2020, but COVID-19 concerns have prompted delays.

Mt. Bethel is a founding member of the Wesleyan Covenant Association, a consortium of conservative Methodist churches that has been preparing for the creation of a new denomination, the Global Methodist Church.

When the UMC announced last month it was delaying its general conference again, to 2024, due to COVID-related travel issues, the GMC said it would move up its official activation date from September to May 1.

Among the leaders of the GMC is Keith Boyette, the WCA founder and a member of Mt. Bethel’s legal team.