United Methodist Church Sues 19,000-Member Dallas Congregation Over 2022 Autonomy Bylaws
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 6
United Methodist Church Sues 19,000-Member Dallas Congregation Over 2022 Autonomy Bylaws
2 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 6
Summary
Highland Park United Methodist Church, one of the denomination’s largest and wealthiest congregations, is being sued after it rewrote bylaws in 2022 to assert powers usually held by the church hierarchy.
Those revisions let the Dallas church make decisions such as hiring clergy and stripped references to the United Methodist Church and its Book of Discipline from its governing documents.
The fight pits a shrinking mainline denomination against a thriving congregation that drew more than 19,000 people to Easter services this year and has remained in the church since its 1916 founding.
The lawsuit follows a yearslong schism over L.G.B.T.Q. issues that saw about 7,600 mostly conservative churches leave between 2019 and 2023, including at least 40% of Texas congregations.
At stake is how much control national denominations still hold over powerful local churches, with leverage often resting on governing texts such as the United Methodist trust clause over property.