In an extremely rare move, the North Georgia Conference of the United Methodist Church has seized the assets of Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church in Marietta amid a fight over who should be its senior pastor.
The conference announced its stunning decision in a statement released Monday and said it was “acting out of love for the church and its mission” and to “preserve the legacy of the Mt. Bethel church and its longstanding history of mission and ministry.”
Mt. Bethel UMC in Marietta, whose membership has been reported to be around 8,000, has one of the largest congregations in the conference. It also has the Mt. Bethel Christian Academy. According to the statement from the North Georgia Conference, the regional governing body for the area’s United Methodist churches, the title to Mt. Bethel UMC’s real, personal, tangible and intangible property was immediately transferred to the conference’s Board of Trustees, “who may hold or dispose of such property in its sole discretion.”
The statement also said the employment, instruction, activities and worship at the church and the school will continue “but under the direction and control of the Conference Board of Trustees.”
The North Georgia Conference and the leadership at the conservative Mt. Bethel church have been locked in a battle for months. Read More
Also See:
United Methodist Conference Seizes Church Assets in Dispute
Conference Assumes Management of Megachurch
Image Credit: Mt. Bethel UMC
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