The Timeline of Belin UMC's Bungled Discernment

In my chronicling the various chapters of mishaps and mangling of local church disaffiliations for discernment, more than once I was told of unjust developments in Belin, South Carolina. Yet efforts at finding a representative of the church to speak with me were unsuccessful. This is a hobby of mine, not a career, so I don’t have tons of time to call around for leads.

Yet my coverage of a recent article about Belin’s failed attempt to continue conversations about discernment motivated an intermediary to connect me with Dan Temple, a member of the church and professional CPA, who was able to walk me through the timeline of what has transpired, with supporting documents and media.

My interest in covering this topic is not at all to spread discontent, but rather to spread information. Temple shared a good deal of practical information, including a legal statement, that could potentially be useful to other churches seeking to discern their way forward after the unholy events that transpired in Charlotte last year.

As thorough as Temple is in this conversation, one would be wise to consult the documents contained in the Google Drive folder linked below. Make sure to pray for Dan and his church. They celebrated their centennial this last weekend. It is a strange and unfortunate time to try to be a biblical local church within a mainline denomination. Yet there are surely blessings that can come with such challenges. Let’s pray for God’s blessing to be upon them.

Links:Google Drive folder w/ Belin documents - https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1ZO9GS-wcWmDJoUbYNYPiVRu4NVF0n87-?usp=sharing

1. Resolution and Legal Memo of Understanding (attached) (i.e. reason for 1/6/25 meeting)

2. Link to Resolution Website (bmcmisc.org) if you’d rather not post pdf. Just have link to this site at top

3. Flip Flop meeting of November 2023 nobody knew was coming or even possible (see 1:53 – 1:56):

4. Vote to Re-Enter Discernment August 2024

5. Monday the 6th Meeting (1st 1.5 hours highlights breach of trust again, similar to November 2023 D.S. heavy handed, undue influence):

6. Letter I read: attached, I have permission to share

7.Council of Bishops Letter:

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