The Spectre of Conferences Blocking Disaffiliations

This one deals with the threat of conferences blocking the disaffiliations of churches that have faithfully gone through the process. In light of the successful disaffiliations of 120 churches in Virginia last week, and Oklahoma's special called conference coming up this weekend, I go through a spreadsheet reflecting that Oklahoma may actually lose almost half of its size due to disaffiliations. I think go through a John Lomperis article in which he details what has happened to the four churches that have had the rug pulled out from under them. The segment is a little spread out, but it'll interest those with a sincere interest to look at the dynamics at play here.

Links:

List of upcoming special called conferences - https://www.umnews.org/en/news/united-methodist-annual-conference-special-sessions-in-2023

Oklahoma Conference's Self-Reported Stats on Disaffiliating Churches - https://www.okumc.org/dadata2023

"What Did ‘Stay UMC’ Activists Really Win by Blocking Disaffiliations?" by John Lomperis - https://juicyecumenism.com/2023/10/04/what-did-stay-umc-activists-win/

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