The United Methodist Church's (UMC) court will soon deliberate on handling church exits in Alabama and other states in recent years.
The church court plans to meet in Los Angeles this October.
According to a UMC spokesperson, both the Kentucky and Alabama-West Florida conferences are asking the Judicial Council for a decision regarding the meaning, application and effect of ¶2549 of the Book of Discipline as it relates to a policy, process or method for United Methodist Churches to exit or separate from the denomination.
The Alabama-West Florida Conference is also asking the Judicial Council whether it's proper or permissible for a local church's Church Council to form a petition asking the Annual Conference to close that church or whether this would conflict with church law regarding the role of that local church's Charge Conference.
In May, the Alabama Supreme Court unanimously upheld a lower court's dismissal of a lawsuit brought by 48 Methodist churches across Alabama against the UMC. The churches sought a vote to disaffiliate with the UMC and retain church property amid global turmoil within the denomination.
In a separate lawsuit, Harvest Church in Dothan sued the UMC over a property dispute after the church announced its disaffiliation from the denomination.
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