After what has happened to Fifth Avenue, Struthers, and First Church OKC, we are starting to see a pattern. Valuable real estate with humble attendance are targeted by increasingly impoverished annual conference leadership within The United Methodist Church. As they speak platitudes about renewal and growth, they simultaneously disenfranchise local church communities to absorb them and profit off the assets they accrued over more than a century of ministry. This latest chapter, involving two clergy and one DS that we cover, points in a very sad direction of an institution devouring its own to buttress itself as it suffers its self-caused destruction. Take some time to learn about what Christian brethren are enduring at the hands of such powers, and pray for truth and repentance.
Links:
Surf City 2021 Church Stats - http://www.umdata.org/ChurchProfile.aspx?ChurchID=894820
Good News Magazine Article - “Surf City Disaffiliation or Eviction?”- https://goodnewsmag.org/surf-city-disaffiliation-or-eviction/
Los Angeles Times Article - “United Methodist Congregations Trying to Leave Amid LGBTQ+ Schism Say They’re Being Held for Ransom” - https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-07-03/united-methodist-congregations-lgbtq-schism-southern-california
Epoch Times Article - “Huntington Beach’s Oldest Church Faces Threat of Closure Amidst Property Battle” - https://www.theepochtimes.com/us/huntington-beachs-oldest-church-faces-threat-of-closure-amidst-property-battle-5446875
DS Sandra Olewine’s Episcopal Bid Website - https://westernjurisdictionumc.org/sandra-olewine/
John Lomperis’ account of Olewine’s dishonesty - “United Methodist Church Drops the Ball on Anti-Semitism” - https://juicyecumenism.com/2016/12/06/united-methodist-church-drops-ball-anti-semitism/
Rev. George Hooper Bio - https://cumchb.org/leadership/
All other stats culled from UMData.org
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