Members of the First United Methodist Church in Marysville have voted to leave the denomination. The church will become part of the Global Methodist Church. The congregation, which will continue to meet in the facility at the corner of Sixth and Court streets, does not have a new name yet. United Methodist Church officials have said they will plant a new church in the community.
(Journal-Tribune photo by Mac Cordell)
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The oldest church in Marysville, founded in 1827, is changing and a new church is on the way.
For more than 50 years, the church at the corner of Court and Sixth streets in Marysville has been part of the United Methodist Church.
Sunday, members of the Marysville First United Methodist Church (FUMC) voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church and to join the Global Methodist Church.
Pastor Nathan Custer said 83% of the members present for the Sunday afternoon meeting, voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church.
Custer said that when the denomination was founded in 1968, most pastors and members believed similarly but a small minority had more progressive views. He said that over time, more congregations moved away from the foundational values of the United Methodist Church (UMC), which created a wide range of beliefs within the denomination. He said that shifting and ambiguity of beliefs is what led to the vote to move away from the UMC.
Church officials said 416 of the about 800 eligible members were at the meeting.
“That really exceeded our expectations, which was wonderful,” Custer said.
He said that given the diversity of members and opinions, “the meeting could have been volatile, but from what I’ve seen, it wasn’t, it was very respectful.”
The pastor did note that when the vote to disaffiliate was announced, many of those that wanted to stay in the United Methodist Church left the meeting. He said he knows it was “difficult and emotional” for the families and members that walked out and for those that remained.
Of those that stayed following that vote, 96% voted to join the Global Methodist Church.
“It was good to know that we were ready to move forward together, but we want to be able to do that in a way that honors those who didn’t vote this way and to bless them and to serve them,” Custer said.
The pastor said the local decision will need to be accepted by the denomination’s regional conference in November. From there, the local church will need to pay a full year of apportionments as well as any unfunded liability in the pension fund for former pastors. Custer said there is not a final dollar figure yet, but officials anticipate that to be about $500,000.
The building will be transferred from the UMC to the local congregation.
“We don’t want retirees to suffer or our brothers and sisters who are staying in the denomination to suffer,” Custer said, adding that denominational leaders “have really been fair about this, we feel.”
The Global Methodist Church will also need to accept the local congregation as well as clergy members.
Custer said the nothing is done “but it is 99% sure.” He said he believes the transition will be complete by Jan. 1, 2023.
Church leaders have expressed that disaffiliating allows the local church to have unity around many beliefs, as well as to have more say over choosing pastors, more accountability of leaders and to own property.
Individuals who choose not to be part of the Global Methodist Church will have options.
Custer said there are United Methodist congregations in the surrounding communities and a variety of local churches that might be a fit for former attendees. He added that Marysville will likely be getting another United Methodist Church soon.
In a letter to the Linworth United Methodist, Pastor Sara McSwords announced that she had been asked to plant a UMC church in Marysville.
“In this challenging season, as some churches are choosing to leave (disaffiliate from) the UMC in Union County, the nature and timeline of being sent to a new appointment is different for me as I am being asked to plant a new United Methodist Church,” McSwords wrote. “There are still many questions that I don’t have answers to yet. What I do know is that I long to be faithful, and I long to cultivate spaces of inclusive, beloved belonging for all people to grow to know the transforming love of Jesus Christ. I know that I have been asked to do this in my hometown of Marysville.”
Custer said McSwords is well known in the community and served at FUMC for a time.
McSwords wrote that “though there are many lingering questions” the plan is that beginning in November, she will work part time with the Linworth UMC and part time as a church planter in Union County.
“After that time, it is the District’s hope that I will be serving fulltime as a new church plant pastor in Marysville as of January 1, 2023,” McSwords wrote. “At this point, we are still in the planning stages.”
Custer said the existing church will spend the next three months continuing ministries and planning for the future. He said there are a lot of logistics to work out, from clergy ordination to naming the new congregation.
“We don’t know what we are going to call ourselves,” Custer said. “We don’t know what ministries we are going to have. We don’t know how we are going to refresh our facilities to better serve the community.”
The pastor said that until the transition is complete, “the ministries we currently have, we will continue to do — the preschool, the youth group, the services, the worship.”
He said people in the local church, many of who were not able to vote because they aren’t official members, will need to decide for themselves if they want to remain part of the congregation or join another.
“What kind of impact that will have on our ministries? I don’t know of any that would stop because of this,” Custer said.
He said many members are “really excited about the new opportunities” for ministries in the church and in the church building. Custer said officials had started looking at ways to better use the building even before the vote to disaffiliate. He said that process and the fact that the building will soon belong to the congregation has accelerated the effort.
“We need to figure out how to use this facility to be an even bigger blessing,” Custer said. “That’s a big responsibility.”
He said, “We love this community and we want to continue to be part of it and bless the community.”