On Wednesday, August 3rd, the Administrative Council for Wrightsboro UMC met and voted unanimously to not bring a motion to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church to the congregation at this time. This decision was made based on the following reasoning:

• First and foremost, we love our church and believe God is on the move within us. We see momentum in our mission and ministry, and believe that placing a divisive vote before the congregation at a time when our church can continue to live into its mission as it does would do more harm than any potential good. 
• Disaffiliating from the UMC would remove us from partnering with connectional ministries that have been foundational for us as a church. These include ministries such as UMCOR, the MERCI center, Disaster Response, and many more.
• Disaffiliating from the UMC would create additional financial strain on our community. Conservative projections put our cost for disaffiliating at over $100,000 (not including legal fees). Additionally, the full disaffiliation process would take up to a year to complete and would require a great deal of administrative effort from our lay leaders and staff.
• Lastly, The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church Church remains unchanged. Any potential changes will be voted on by the General Conference in 2024 and would not take affect until 2025, at which time, should change occur, our church can have conversation as family regarding how we might respond to potential changes. 

For these reasons, our administrative council has unanimously decided that a vote to disafilliate would not be a faithful next step for our church. Instead, we will use this season to focus on Christ, deepen our discipleship, engage with God's Word, preach the Gospel, and follow the Spirit's leading. We will minister to our children, youth, and adults, and continue to be in ministry alongside our United Methodist Connection that binds us with Christians all around the world.

If the language of the Book of Discipline should change, we will discuss and respond to those changes as family.

We have spoken with many members of our community prior to making this decision. We believe this decision honors the heart of our congregation and invites everyone to move forward with us as we continue to watch for how God is working in our midst.

Wrightsboro UMC is committed to loving our neighbors, welcoming all in our community, and most importantly, keeping Jesus Christ and his Gospel at the center of everything we do.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Pastor Angelo by clicking here. 

On June 26th, Pastor Angelo held an information session to provide greater clarity around four questions regarding our United Methodist denomination:

• What is the current state of the UMC? 
• When will key decisions be made and how will they affect our local church?
• What options does our local church have in the meantime? 
• How will our mission and ministry be affected?

Below you will find the video recording of that session along with a few helpful links. There is also an additional (short) video testimonial offered by Pastor Angelo as part of the #BeUMC campaign. If you have questions, comments, or concerns regarding any of this material we would love to connect with you! Please email or reach out to Pastor Angelo directly.