A Resolution for a Two-Thirds Majority to Remove the Texas Annual Conference from The United Methodist Church

March 2022
Submitted by: Elizabeth Duffin, Carroll Greenwaldt, Stephanie Griffin, David Horton, DeAndre Johnson, Jeff McDonald, Keith Somerville, Tom Wussow

WHEREAS, representatives of various groups within The United Methodist Church (the “UMC”) negotiated a Protocol of Reconciliation and Grace Through Separation (the “Protocol”) which would authorize an annual conference to exit the UMC by a 57% majority vote of the clergy and lay members present and voting at a session of the annual conference; and

WHEREAS, even though the Protocol exists as negotiated procedure, it does not exist as church law having not been presented to or authorized by General Conference; and WHEREAS, significant uncertainty about the consequences of disaffiliating the Texas Annual Conference (the “TAC”) from the UMC remains unresolved without the Protocol, including: provisions for local churches, members, and clergy who do not wish to serve outside the UMC; a process for guaranteeing clergy pension liabilities; the uncertainty of the constitutionality of annual conference disaffiliation; and the possibility of annual conference disaffiliation without General Conference approval being ruled unconstitutional by Judicial Council; and

WHEREAS, in the 2021 regular session of the TAC, a resolution was adopted that calls upon the TAC to establish a Task Force for the study of annual conference assets, property, and personnel, and requires the Task Force to deliver a “Plan for the Allocation of Assets and Discernment of Relationship” to the TAC no sooner than three (3) months and no later than six (6) months “after the adjournment of a General Conference which fundamentally changes our denomination”; and the above-referenced resolution demonstrates the intent of the TAC to wait for General Conference approval before the TAC votes to change its denominational affiliation; and

WHEREAS, significant uncertainty and in some cases instability exist in the congregations of the TAC due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and a disaffiliation vote would only increase the uncertainty and instability; and WHEREAS, to disaffiliate the TAC from the UMC would change the membership of all the local churches in the TAC, and there is precedent for a two-thirds majority vote at the level of the local church for the approval of a change in local church membership, including ¶2553 which specifies, “The decision to disaffiliate from The United Methodist Church must be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) majority vote of the professing members of the local church present at the church conference”; and ¶41 which defines the procedure for local churches to transfer their annual conference membership to another annual conference, requiring “a two-thirds vote of those present and voting at each of the following:a) the charge conference;b) the congregational meeting of the local church;c) each of the two annual conferences involved.”

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the TAC adopts a two-thirds majority threshold of those present and voting at any session of the annual conference, regular or called, for a vote to disaffiliate the entire TAC from the UMC to be effective.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the two-thirds threshold remain in effect until General Conference authorizes a different voting threshold for annual conferences to disaffiliate. Respectfully submitted by the following delegates to the 2022 regular session of the Texas Annual Conference (C = Clergy, L = Laity),

Ingrid Akers - C
Janet Allen – L
Rhett Ansley - C
Paula Arnold – L
Scott Atnip - L
Stacy Auld - C
Colin Bagby - C
Mary Balagia - C
Jim Bankston – C
Dan Barcus – L
Sarah Barnett - C
Madeline Beem – L
Patty Bergfield - C
Chris Betts - L
Amy Bezecny - C
John Black – C
Edward Blackstone - C
Nathan Lonsdale Bledsoe – C
Glynden Bode - C
Jhovany Bonilla - L
Amy Boriack – C
Kaitlyn Bowie – C
Jerome Brimmage - C
Sadie Brink - C
Brian Brooks – C
Parker Brooks - L
Lorraine Brown – C
Trey Burns - C
Suzi Byrd - C
Jimmy Calvert - C
Peter Cammarano - C
Ted Campbell – C
Margaret Carlson - L
Steve Carroll – L
James Cermin - L
Emily Chapman – C
Sherri Waters Clem - C
Justin Coleman - C
Eleanor Colvin - C
Trey Comstock – C
Ken Coneby - C
Karla Crabtree – L
Travis Crabtree - L
Thea Curry-Fuson – C
Tom Daughtery - C
Meredith Davis – L
Carrie DeLeon – C
Gerry DeSobe - C
Dick Dobbins - C
Jamison Doehring - C
Elizabeth Duffin - C
Seann Duffin – C
Nick Earles - L
Katie Eichler – C
Kelli Eldridge - C
Alexandra Elliott – L
Elizabeth Elliot – L
Jennifer Ellis - L
Linda Elms - L
John Esquivel - L
Emily Everett – C
Brett Falkenhagen – L
Steve Fenderson - L
Steven Fisher – L
Warren Fisher - L
Justin Flint - L
Kate Flint – C
Charlene Fowler – L
Dennis Fowler - L
Eloise Frantz - L
Damon Fraylon – C
Donyale Fraylon – C
John French - L
Brent Frenchak - L
Bill Fuqua – C
Madison Garcia - C
William J Gardner - L
Dallas Garrett - L
Debbie Garrett – L
Bea Garza – L
Allyson George – L
Carlee George – L
Michael Gienger – C
Rick Goodrich - C
Dick Graves - L
Norma Graves – L
Carroll Greenwaldt - L
Preston Greenwaldt – C
Stephanie Griffin – L
Ginny Griggs – C
Bob Guffey – L
Sarah Guffey – L
Wayne D. Haglund - L
Christie Hale – C
Ellie Hale – L
Josh Hale – C
Russell Hall - C
Vicky Harris – L
Brian Hawboldt - L
Deborah Hawboldt - C
Tammy Heinrich – C
Jim Henderson – L

Nancy Hinshaw – L
Amy Hodge – C
Nathan Hodge - C
Dan Hoge - L
Andrew Hook - C
Brandi Horton - C
David Horton – C
Chuck Huffman – C
Kathy Huffman – L
Stephanie Hughes - C
Tara Hunsucker – L
Jay Jackson – C
LeAnn Jackson - L
Michael Jarboe - C
Keith Jenkins - C
Bryan Jody - C
DeAndre Johnson – C
Kelsey Johnson - L
LyAnna Johnson – C
Hiram “Doc” Jones - C
Jennifer Jordan - C
Todd Jordan – C
Diane Kelder - L
Amy Kelley – L
Sherri Kelley - L
Bill Kerley - C
T. Paul Kethley – C
Joy Killam - L
Steve Killam – C
Kandice Kirby - L
Lindsay Kirkpatrick – C
Josef Klam - C
Bill Koerner – L
JT LaRue - C
Carrie Leader – C
Rahel Lee-Yoo – C
Sandy Leffler - L
Tom Leffler – L
Lou LeFevre - L
Sandra Londa - C
Celeste Long - L
Judy Long – L
Meghan Lutschg – L
Melissa Maher – C
Bill Mallett - L
Roberta Maltas - C
Michelle Manuel – C
Becky Marsh - L
E. Mireya Martinez – C
David Massey - L
Jerry Massey – L
Jeff McDonald – C
Lenee McDonald – L
Robbie McDonough – L
Jim McPhail - C
Don Meador - C
Katie Montgomery Mears – C
Whitney Mears - L
Paul Meiller – C
Charles Millikan – C
Brad Morgan - C
Jordan Morgan - L
Preston Morgan – C
Don Morriss - L
Karen Morris-Jones – C
Karen House Morrison – L
Kate Mosel - L
Nataly Negrete-Lopez - C
Jerry Neff – C
Emily Netemeyer - L
Steven Newcomb – C
Miranda Newman - L
Chris Noellert – L
Tom Pace – C
Jenna Parrott – L
Steve Paul - L
Andrew Payne – C
Jordan Payne - L
Sonja Payne - L
Pat Pearson - L
Whitney Peper – C
Gail Perley – L
Michael Peschke – C
Quinn Peters - C
Richard Pettys – C
Quinn Peters - C
Richard Pettys – C
Lindsay Pollock – L
Collin Powell - C
Jimmy Principe - L
Kate Principe – L
Eric Pugh - C
Evelyn Pugh - L
Luis Ramirez – C
Debbie Ramsey - L
Mike Ramsey – L
Jan Randolph – L
George Redd – L
Jacques Richard - L
Lance Richards - C
Karyn Richards-Kuan – C
Paul Richards-Kuan - C

Katie Richey - L
Ricky Ricks - C
Cindy Riddick – C
Julia Riley - C
Alyn Risley - L
Cliff Ritter – C
Barbara Robberson - C
Markley Rogers – C
Michelle Rogers - L
Jaye Lynne Rooney - L
Ashlee Ross – L
Teresa Rossy - L
Lani Rousseau – C
Charles Ruehl - C
Matt Russell - C
Katy Sabayrac – C
Carl Sandlin – L
Judy Sandlin - L
William Paul Schneider – L
Gary Scoggin - L
Elaine Scott- L
Lisa Michelle Shafer - C
Hal Sharp – L
Jeff Simmons - L
Jennifer Simons – L
Johnnie Simpson, Jr. – C
Lataya Simpson – C
Shuler Sitsch - C
Gail Ford Smith - C
Lindsay Smith - C
Sandra Smith – C
Steve Smith – L
T. Randall Smith – C
Robin Snoek - L
Garry Solmonson - L
Le’Ann Solmonson – L
Keith Somerville - C
Kathleen Spangler - L
Marilyn Sparks - L
Pat Sparks – C
John Stephens - C
Stacy Stepler – L
Jon Stouffer - C
Wick Stuckey - C
Bill Taylor – C
Collin Taylor - C
Renee Teel - L
Hannah Terry – C
Terry Thompson - C
Ellen Thornburg – L
Debbie Tipps - C
Kay Towns - C
Kyle Tremblay – C
Kristen Tropeano - L
Carol Turner – C
Dan Usher - L
Sergio Van Dusen - L
Valerie VanNatta – L
Harry Vein – C
Heather Velez - C
Jennifer Veres-Schrecengost – C
Amy Vogel - L
Don Waddleton – C
Chris Waks – C
Hyral “Buddy” Walker Jr. - C
Kate Walker - C
Diedra Walters - C
Larry Ward - L
Laceye Warner – C
John Warren – C
Christian Washington - C
Gregory Way - L
Chuck Weber – C
Emily Weir - L
Madison Wentworth – C
Jennifer West - L
Jeremy Wester – C
Sallie Wester – L
Keith Whitaker – C
Stephanie Whitaker - L
Richard L. White – C
B.T. Williamson - C
Sarah Wilson – L
Sheryl Wittenbach - L
Andrew Wolfe - C
Jack Womack – C
Kathy Womack – L
Leah Won – L
Margaret Wood - L
Christy Wussow - L
Tom Wussow – L
Danny Yang - C
Deanna Young – C
Kay Young - L
Kevin Young – C
Laura Young - L
Lawrence Young – C
Randy Zercher - C
Richard Zey – L
Mindy Faith Zwirn - C

Show Your Support

If you would like to show your support for requiring a 2/3 threshold for the crucial decision of the Texas Annual Conference (TAC)'s denominational affiliation, you can add your name by clicking the button below.

You do not need to be a delegate to the TAC to sign, but do need to be a United Methodist in the Texas Annual Conference. If you have already signed on to the submitted legislation, there is no need to complete this form