Donna Lachance has been a member of Mt. Bethel UMC in east Cobb for 15 years.
The retired corporate executive found the church, which is minutes from her home, to “be a loving family, despite its huge size.”
Sometimes, though, families are torn apart.
People who once brought meals to Lachance’s home when she injured her ankle about a year ago now no longer speak to her. Lachance said she’s received harassing phone calls, texts and emails.
“We fight hunger. We fight brokenness. We don’t fight each other,” said Lachance, a member of the Friends of Mt. Bethel UMC group, which has a website and was formed in July to provide a voice for those people who “disagree” with the leadership’s rejection of the pastoral transition. “This is tearing us absolutely straight in half.”
Lachance has not attended services at Mt. Bethel since May when the church’s leadership squared off against the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church and Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson over, among other things, the reassignment of the church’s senior pastor, the Rev. Jody Ray, who was to move to an assignment on the conference staff.
Ray, 52, refused the reassignment and contends he was never consulted about the move. He surrendered his credentials and was named CEO and lead preacher of Mt. Bethel, which claims 10,000 members.
Reassignments occur regularly in the UMC, and the clergy usually agree to serve where their bishop appoints them.
Ray’s appointed successor, the Rev. Steven Usry, as of yet does not have an office at Mt. Bethel, according to the conference.
Usry, former senior pastor at Sugarloaf UMC in Duluth, could not be reached for comment.
Over the past few months, accusations have flown.
Complaints filed against the bishop with the Southeastern Jurisdiction College of Bishops were later dismissed after the body determined that she acted in compliance with the Book of Discipline, which outlines the doctrine, administration, organizational work and procedures of the UMC.
Now the two sides are facing off in Cobb County Superior Court.
In September, the trustees of the North Georgia Conference asked Cobb County Superior Court to pave the way for the entity to seize control of the assets of Mt. Bethel.
Then on Friday, Mt. Bethel filed an answer and counterclaim against the North Georgia Conference, its trustees, Haupert-Johnson, and the district superintendent asking the court to require the conference and Haupert-Johnson to let the church proceed with a vote to disaffiliate.
It has taken its toll.
Bob Graff, a member of the Friends of Mt. Bethel UMC and a lawyer, joined Mt. Bethel in 1988 when his first child was born. He served as a Sunday school teacher and sang in the choir.
The way he sees it, the church has not followed the Book of Discipline.
Graff said he doesn’t feel comfortable going there for worship.
“It makes me ill,” he said. “I love Jody. I play golf with him at charity events.” However, he compares Ray to a squatter.
“He’s still living there and not paying rent.”
Jonathan Lawson, ministry team lead, takes a different view.
He and his wife have been members since 2003. He was on track to become an ordained elder in the denomination when the leadership changes were made.
He doesn’t think the conference followed procedure and he surrendered his credentials and resigned his appointment through the conference as “a matter of conscience.”
He said the church and its membership remain focused on the same things they were doing before the conflict — the Gospel and serving the community. “... Obviously, there are things that are trying to draw our focus away. For the most part, the people at Mt. Bethel remain focused and united in ministry.”
He disputes that the church is being torn apart.
“Are people saddened and hurt” by the level of division in the church? “Absolutely. Nobody wants strife and conflict in our family,” Lawson said.
The church said it wants to leave the denomination, a process known as disaffiliation.
Among the steps in the disaffiliation plan that was approved at the 2019 General Conference is that a local church must be in good standing as a United Methodist Church member; a two-thirds majority of the members of the local church present and voting at the church conference approve the resolution to disaffiliate; and the resolution must then be ratified by the members of the North Georgia Annual Conference session (the next is in June 2022).
Prior to the disaffiliation date, the local church must pay to the denomination any outstanding required payments from the last 12 months along with 12 months of additional allocations, including unfunded pension obligations, and other liabilities, according to the disaffiliation rules.
The Conference Board of Trustees is currently working with a number of local churches wishing to disaffiliate, the Communications Office statement said.
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