Leadership Team Updates

Note From Pastor Chris

This is another moment….

Last September, after more than a year of a painful and unnecessarily long disaffiliation process, Long’s Chapel ended our long-time relationship with the United Methodist Church. The timing was brought about by a one-time process approved by the General Conference that was only valid through the end of 2023. As of January 1, 2024, we became a new non-profit corporation, taking on the name our church had prior to 1968, Long’s Chapel Methodist Church, continuing the 150-year history of this church on this property.

The pain endured during that process resulted in virtually no one really being ready to discuss a potential new denominational relationship. But our congregation has asked repeatedly throughout the year when we would entertain this question.

The moment is now.

Long’s Chapel, we’ve had a lot of moments together in the last little bit. Our region of WNC very recently experienced the devastating effects of flood damage. The way that you have stepped up, once again, to serve our congregants and community in a time of need has been astounding and beautiful. We will continue to serve our community in this flood recovery season, as we all transition from the immediate relief stage of the disaster to one of more ongoing recovery. This effort will take months and years.

As we near the end of 2024, we still have leadership work to accomplish together and one of those items is whether Long’s Chapel will stay an independent Wesleyan-Methodist Church. The plan is to share information with you that we have gathered and, assuming you are ready to decide, to hold a vote of the church membership on November 17, 2024.

There are a couple of things that are so very important to name from the start:

FIRST AND FOREMOST - Unity and Alignment are everything for Long’s Chapel in this season and the seasons to come.

The question about whether to affiliate with the Global Methodist Church (GMC) or not seems like it’s a question about the core identity of our church. But at Long’s Chapel, your core identity is well established. The core identity of Long’s Chapel wasn’t something “outsourced” to the United Methodist Church any more than the Global Methodist Church can really tell any church who to be. That question is something that the Holy Spirit is revealing from within us and it’s for all of us to discern our part and invest in it. Long’s Chapel - Please hear this Good News - through the challenges and opportunities of the last decade, much less the long and faithful history of this church, your heart for Jesus has been forged in fire.

We exist to worship and serve God by reaching others and growing together as passionate followers of Jesus, because ALL people matter to God.

• Together we will follow God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

• We will allow the Scripture, as primary authority, to reveal God to us.

• We will affirm the biblical value of the church as “the priesthood of all believers.”

• We hold to orthodox teachings of the Christian Tradition AND we will teach those doctrines in creative and innovative ways that reach people where they are. The “why” and the “what” of the Christian Faith is something long ago revealed, but the “how” we share the Good News can and should change over time.

The question before us isn’t about core identity but rather, “What path helps Long’s Chapel, going forward, to be the most vital and healthy church that we can be?” Or, put another way, “Does partnering with the Global Methodist Church and its resources allow us to be a healthier and more vital church community?”

You will see in the chart below that some resources and partnerships will need to be cultivated regardless of our path forward together. You will also see that there are risks and rewards to both paths.

Some will fear that this decision will negatively impact our current unity as a church, or that we could get “trapped” in a denominational system that could have a negative influence on our life together. Here it is important to remind you that your Church Council, after vast research, believes that EITHER of these paths can lead to a bright future for Long’s Chapel well into the next generation. This is also NOT a permanent decision:

1. If Long’s Chapel chooses to stay an independent Wesleyan-Methodist Church, any Church Council in the future could ask the congregation to reconsider this decision to consider affiliations.

2. If Long’s Chapel becomes affiliated with the Global Methodist Church, the disaffiliation clause to end that relationship is about as friendly to the local church as any connection could offer. There would be no financial penalty and just a simple majority membership vote after a modest prayer effort.

This decision is important, but it’s not permanent. However, nothing will be gained on any path if we don’t remember that our primary allegiance is to Jesus Christ and our second commitment is to see Long’s Chapel move forward together into whatever bright future God has in store for us. We may have some disagreement about the way to do that which is healthy. This is NOT a question of core identity and doesn’t change the day-to-day operations or even the longer-term strategic goals of Long’s Chapel in any meaningful way.

Why are the options different than what was presented at the last congregational update? Why are there just two choices now instead of three?

In our efforts to explore options beyond the Global Methodist Church (GMC), we carefully researched and evaluated several Wesleyan-based denominations that do not include a property trust clause. While the Free Methodist Church allows congregations to retain ownership of existing property when joining, any property acquired thereafter would fall under a trust clause. Therefore, in alignment with our current bylaws, we determined that this was not a viable option for our church.

We engaged in Zoom discussions with both Bishop Scott Jones of the GMC and Brother Jim Hancock of the Congregational Methodist Church (CMC), with several Church Council members in attendance. These meetings were recorded for transparency and future reference. The GMC call was segmented into digestible sections and is available for review (see link below).

Upon reviewing the CMC, we found that its governance structure is, as its name suggests, largely congregational. After thorough discussion, the Church Council concluded that affiliation with the CMC would offer little advantage over remaining an independent Methodist church. The connectional aspects of the CMC provide minimal benefit for our congregation. Therefore, affiliation with the GMC is the option for the congregation to consider if affiliation is chosen with the majority vote of members.