College Station church votes to disaffiliate from United Methodist Church

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - Professing members of Christ Church voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church, with an overwhelming 91% supporting the move.

The church will join the Global Methodist Church, upholding more traditional beliefs.

Rev. Jerry House, the lead pastor, says almost 300 churches in Eastern Texas are going through the same vote, including one in Madisonville. Issues began between individual churches and UMC in 2019 when UMC leaders encouraged same-sex marriage and ordaining gay pastors.

House says after being raised with UMC beliefs, this was a tough process.

“We thought about what denomination can, at the end of the day, best prepare people to meet Jesus, when He returns. We made a decision that the Global Methodist Church was such a denomination for us. When our congregation came together last night, 91% of the people voted to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church, and, and join the global Methodist Church,” he said.

House says it goes beyond the initial issue now and shows a much deeper divide in UMC more about biblical authority and interpretation. House says they had almost 900 members take a vote.

“My wife and I started this church 27 years ago, and one month to the day. And, so that was really a significant thing, I think, for us to come to that milestone in our church’s history, and be faced with a decision that really would direct us into a new denomination and shape the future of our church. And so it was a historic moment to say the least,” House said.

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