We don’t know what the future UMC will look like after the General Conference in 2024; however, in the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference, the current Discipline of the United Methodist Church (UMC) has not changed.

The UMC is grounded in scripture and the teachings of Jesus Christ. We are a connectional church committed to making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. We will continue to experience God through our prayers, worship, and other acts of faithfulness.

However, we recognize there are some churches that do not want to wait for the holy conferencing and discernment to take place at the 2024 General Conference. We strongly encourage these churches to have constructive conversations about their future. Then, if after a period of discernment these congregations agree they no longer share the principles that have always defined us as a denomination, they may choose to leave the UMC through disaffiliation. 

As stated in ¶2553, added to the United Methodist Book of Discipline in 2019, “The choice by a local church to disaffiliate with the United Methodist Church under this paragraph shall be made in sufficient time for the process for exiting the denomination to be complete prior to December 31, 2023.  The provisions of ¶2553 expire on December 31, 2023 and shall not be used after that date.” https://twkumc.org/news/gc/bod-2019-addendum/

Therefore, while Bishop McAlilly has expressed his desire for all United Methodist congregations to remain within the connection he has made the call for two special annual conference sessions for the sole purpose of voting on disaffiliations.  These conferences will be conducted in a Zoom format hosted by GNTV.  The dates are the following:

1. Monday, May 22, 2023, at 7:00 pm CST.  For a disaffiliation to be considered at this special called session, all church conferences, appropriate Exhibits, payments, and the Disaffiliation Agreement must be completed or executed by April 3, 2023.

1. Monday, November 13, 2023, at 7:00 pm CST.  For a disaffiliation to be considered at this special called session, all church conferences, appropriate Exhibits, payments, and the Disaffiliation Agreement must be completed or executed by October 2, 2023.

With the announcement of these called sessions, there will be no consideration for  disaffiliation at the regularly scheduled annual conference to be held in Memphis, TN, June 19-21, 2023.

More information about the credentialing and logistics of the called sessions will be provided at a later time.