While the Chronicle is aware of three churches within the county that have recently voted to depart the United Methodist denomination, there are others that are staying.

Chapin United Methodist Church, Gilbert’s Pond Branch and Lexington’s Mt. Horeb (the largest UMC church in the state before it decided to exit) have all left the denomination.

Pastors Jad Taylor and Mark Payne of Beulah United Methodist Church (1577 Old State Rd. in Gaston) and Brookland United Methodist Church (541 Meeting St. in West Columbia) spoke to the Chronicle about their church's decision not to unaffiliate.

“You know, one of the cornerstones of the Methodist Church is our sense of connectionalism,” Taylor said. “This idea that we're not just a standalone church, but we're a connection of churches, not just across South Carolina or the United States, but across the world, and so being able to be in ministry with people from all over the world has been really wonderful.”

The pastor shared that he does not believe that there is anything that the congregation is concerned with, mentioning that they are generally happy with the UMC denomination. Taylor told the Chronicle that the background of his congregation tends to be diverse, with some members having been raised Lutheran, Baptist, Presbyterian and Catholic, among others.

Payne expressed a similar sentiment, sharing that his church is satisfied with the direction of the denomination, adding that Brookland UMC has a shared doctrine and theology set forth by the Book of Discipline, the 1784 text that constitutes the law and doctrine of the UMC, and does not believe the denomination has strayed from that.

“We are a connectional denomination committed to making disciples of all people for the glory of God,” Payne said. “That is why we exist. This is the mission of the UMC and Brookland UMC.”

The three county churches that voted to leave the denomination listed issues related to sexuality among the reasons for their departure – Mt. Horeb emphasized that marriage is between a man and a woman, and Pond Branch emphasized that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teachings.

According to Payne, Brookland UMC is fairly conservative when it comes to marriage and homosexuality, but the pastor said the church doesn’t condemn people for those they love and choose to marry.

“We are told to love others as Jesus loved us and that is what we strive to do,” he said.

Taylor said that within churches, there will be a variety of perspectives around human sexuality – sometimes the centrality of Jesus Christ is enough to hold a church together and connect it with its Wesleyan Heritage, other times it becomes a breaking point.

“Officially, the views of the UMC have not changed,” he said, explaining that the same prohibitions against performing gay marriages or having gay or lesbian clergy have been in place since the ’70s.

He added that the church has had discussions about leaving and has considered the discernment guide available for churches considering exiting the denomination. Ultimately, he said, Beulah leaving at this point would have been premature, explaining that his church hasn’t noticed any changes to its daily life as a result of anything that’s been going on at the national or state level.

Payne told the Chronicle that his church hasn’t held discussions about leaving the denomination, saying that it appears some are making decisions based on what may happen rather than waiting for the 2024 General Conference, which is to be held in April and May of next year.

“We understand the concerns expressed by many. Every church that has left has its own reasons for leaving and we wish them well.” he said. “We wish them well as they continue to minister within their context.”

Taylor told the Chronicle that Beulah’s current goal is to make sure all members are accurately informed of the church’s and the denominations' happenings.

“We want to make sure that everyone has access to good information, everyone knows what's going on,” he said, “because ultimately, we want our decision to be driven by good information and being able to hear one another well and to listen to the Holy Spirit.”

According to Taylor and Dan O’Mara, director of communications for the state UMC conference, the denomination circles itself around the idea of connectionalism, with O’Mara explaining this is often referred to as “The Connection.”

“The Connection is breaking. There's no doubt about it,” Taylor said. “You know, when you have significant numbers of churches choosing to leave the denomination, those churches, again, I can't speak for why they made their decision, but I know that at least some of them would say that our connection is no longer viable or can hold us together and so yes, in that sense, it definitely is breaking.”

Taylor further shared that there is a real loss when churches split apart from one another, adding that these splits were an inevitability and are not a surprise but are heartbreaking nonetheless.

Still, the pastor said there is a “renewed sense” among the denomination, mentioning that the denomination itself has not fully leaned into the power of its connection. 

Taylor elaborated, saying that as the UMC denomination gets smaller and more nimble that changes will be required, which may be difficult, but will bring new opportunities to lean into that connectionalism.

The Brookland UMC pastor told the Chronicle that he believes the churches leaving the denomination both strengthens and weakens the connection, saying that some churches on both sides will lose some members and go through a period of uncertainty.