Fifty local churches are involved in a lawsuit against the Eastern Pennsylvania Annual Conference of The United Methodist Church, represented by the National Center for Life and Liberty. Similar cases are being litigated around the country. Some places like Georgia have seen limited victories for churches seeking to sever times from the UMC. Other locations like Oklahoma have seen courts refusing to get involved against conferences that abuse their authority. In Pennsylvania, 11 of the churches are seeking to drop out of the lawsuit and instead disaffiliate under the unfavorable terms afforded by their conference. The conference leadership has told them that it is now too late for them to seek exit, so they are filing suit against the conference in order to have the state compel them to abide by Paragraph 2553 and allow them to exit before the provision expires. To the surprise of many, the proceedings in Pennsylvania took two days and hours of witness testimony, including that of Bishop Schol. Rev. Joe DiPaolo was in attendance, taking inscrutable notes. He was kind enough to join me to give a report and some analysis.
Links:
Lloyd Lunceford (Church Law) Interview - https://youtu.be/hxaB8FFGsk0
Rev. Joe DiPaolo Interview - https://youtu.be/UPnVdakG6og
3-Part Series on Eastern Pennsylvania Conference - https://youtu.be/cqUFs0j57wg
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