The bitter controversy embroiling one of East Cobb’s biggest faith communities came to a quiet end in 2022, after more than a year of charged rhetoric and legal action.
Mt. Bethel Church was renamed in the summer after what had been Mt. Bethel UMC officially broke from the United Methodist Church.
The denomination’s North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel in 2021 following months of public feuding over the reassignment of senior pastor Rev. Dr. Jody Ray that evolved into a dispute over church property and assets.
Mt. Bethel countersued, and in June, the two parties agreed to a settlement that would enable Mt. Bethel to go independent in exchange for a $13.1 million payment and other property restrictions.
Disaffected members met with the North Georgia bishop, claiming she “caved” to Mt. Bethel’s demands in the legal action.
Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson told them that while the costs of litigation were increasing, settling the case “was a missional decision above all else to free them to be about the overall mission of the Church.”
As she was being reassigned as the UMC’s Bishop of Virginia, Mt. Bethel made several major changes. The court settlement precludes the church from selling some land and property on its main campus on Lower Roswell Road for several years.
But Mt. Bethel announced it would be selling some nearby land not affected by the settlement, including a day care center and a now-vacant community center on Lower Roswell near Woodlawn Drive.
Mt. Bethel also is dropping its charter status with the Boy Scouts over liability costs.
“As part of responsible stewardship, our committees, our leadership council and our pastors will continue to evaluate how Mt. Bethel’s assets can best support the ministry of the church,” Mt. Bethel lay leader Ferrell Coppedge said.
Some former Mt. Bethel members have begun a new church, called Grace Resurrection Methodist Church, located at the former Lutheran Church of the Incarnation.
The clergy includes Rev. Randy Mickler, who was Mt. Bethel’s senior pastor for nearly 30 years before he retired in 2016 and was succeeded by Ray.
An unidentified Grace Resurrection church member said in a release that “rather than scatter or dropout altogether, we wanted to continue worshiping together and expand our welcome to new members. Now an excellent centralized location is available to us.”
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Mr. Ray (along with his full-time chaperone, Mr. Coppedge) permits no question about his, uh, “leadership” or ideology to be aired by anyone at any time. Members who try to do so are expelled. And that’s not a “church,” East Cobbers: that’s a *cult*.