Status of Separation Process – As I announced at the start of our church service on 8/17, we received some disappointing news recently. The SC Supreme Court ruled in the favor of the favor of the UMC conference regarding original jurisdiction and pre-trial consolidation of the various cases across the state. This means that one judge (Honorable Brian M. Gibbons) will try all of the cases regardless of the county or community where the church is located and that he will hear all pre-trial motions. This was not unexpected based on the history of cases for other denominations, but it was not what we had hoped for. However, this does not change the path that our NCLL lawyers are working on for our church and the other 50+ churches across the state.
The conference lawyers have still not filed a specific lawsuit against our church. As communicated previously, they filed a Lis Pendens (Latin term meaning suit pending) in April stating that a suit would be filed within 20 days, and they have continued to refile the Lis Pendens within that 20 day period. The last time that it was filed was 8/8 so I expect it will be updated again on 8/28 or sooner.
Since suits have been filed against churches that separated after us, the conference lawyers evidently have not taken the time to find all of our deeds or are having trouble finding them. It is also possible that the original wording with the Graniteville Company causes some issues with the property trust clause in the Book of Discipline. We will have to wait and see what happens and will know more when the actual suit is filed.
Please remain patient and continue to pray for our church, its leaders, and our lawyers as this process continues.
Church Committee Membership – Please seriously consider volunteering to join one of our church committees to assist our church with its mission and our potential for growth in the coming years. If you would like more information or would like to volunteer please see one of the council members or give me a call.
Council Meeting – Due to a change in our fall vacation plans, I had to change our next council meeting to 10/23 – same time and location. I hope that our annual congregation meeting will still be on 11/2 but this may also slip a week depending on our preparations for the October meeting and its results.
If you have any questions or comments about the above information, please give me a call or discuss with me when we next meet.
Peyton Northington
(803-645-6396)