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Minister Ron Schwarberg stands at the altar of Butler Christ Community Church. The church recently disaffiliated from the Methodist Council, and it is not alone. Methodist churches across the country took leave of the council by majority votes of the congregations after changes were made in procedure.
By Nila Harris
You might have seen the signs change at Butler United Methodist Church and Concord United Methodist Church, but why? The preacher of both churches, Ron Schwarberg, explained the change.
“Though the United Methodist Church was officially created in 1968, its history dates back to 1730 when John and Charles Wesley…gathered a small group of students who sought to spread the Methodist movement.” umc.org Their website goes on to state, “The United Methodist Church is a global denomination that opens hearts, opens minds, and opens doors through active engagement with our world. The mission of The United Methodist Church is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.” It goes on to talk about outreach efforts and works but has little or nothing to say about the Bible and repentance. The focus on works instead of Biblical theology and repentance, worldly views, lack of following the Methodist foundations, and the essence that the association is anything but united, has led these two churches and many across the nation to pull away. Schwarberg stated, “They’re letting the world dictate their theology rather than the Bible dictating their theology.” Even the founding father John Wesley is quoted as saying, “It is diligently to be noted, the faith, which brings not forth repentance, and love, and all good works, is not that right living faith which is here spoken of, but a dead and devilish one.” christianhistoryinstitute.org
The United Methodist Churches have a Book of Discipline that they are supposed to follow which forms guiding principles for the church. Schwarberg stated that there is a divide between liberals and conservatives within the conference, and because of this, the Book of Discipline is not being enforced. There is also a Council of Bishops which are required to oversee the churches to determine if they are abiding by the Book of Discipline. Schwarberg feels that if the Book of Discipline is not being abided by, then there is no sense in having it. In addition, there is no sense having a Council, if they are not doing their part in making sure the Book of Discipline is being followed. Another concern expressed by members within the Methodist churches is the denomination’s leniency toward same-sex marriage and LGBTQ+ members in positions of ministry. These concerns have led churches across the nation to make the decision to disaffiliate from United Methodist.
The two Pendleton County churches started becoming concerned in 2019 with a decision made at the general conference which came up with four different plans of action for the United Methodist churches. The plans varied from progressive to traditional goals. But the cost of disaffiliation from United Methodist was staggering. John Wesley had created a trust clause to ensure that church properties would belong to the United Methodist Church. To leave meant that you would have to give up the church property.
Wesley did this because “he wanted to make sure that local societies could not take control of these properties from the connection he was creating.” umc.org
With the changes going on in the general conference, an addendum, Paragraph 2553, was added to the Book of Discipline which allowed congregations to keep their property. This lightened the load for the churches seeking disaffiliation; however, there were other high costs involved.
To separate from United Methodist, two thirds of a congregation need to be in favor of the split. Both Butler and Concord were 100 percent in agreement, according to Schwarberg. They had to pay two years of appropriation payments, two years of pastor pensions (even for a part-time pastor), and two years of health care payments. Originally, the price was out of reach for the churches at just over $70,000. But Schwarberg knows that God was in the situation because the final cost ended up being just under $25,000 for Butler and less for Concord. This was still a definite hardship for the little country churches. “Everyone prayed for an amicable split, but it has been anything but. They made it as difficult as possible.”
The new “old” church at Butler is now Butler Christ Community Church and Concord’s is Concord Church of Faith. They are in the process of rebuilding, creating new accounts, and looking for ways to serve their communities. BCCC does outreach in the Boston area, giving weekly snack packs to the children in the mobile home park. They also have furnished school supplies and Christmas gifts for youngsters. A community-wide V.B.S. will be held July 31st to August 3, and BCCC will be hosting.
Worship at CCF is at 9:30 a.m. and at 11 a.m. for BCCC. Schawberg says that “We are a Christ-centered church. Too many Bible prophecies have come true to not take the Bible seriously.
Everyone is welcome. They will hear the Biblical truth.”