Here is an excellent resource from editor Cynthia Astle of UM-Insight.net on the disaffiliation issue in the UMC. It was in a subscription e-mail from UM-Insight on September 30, 2022. I would encourage you to subscribe to this excellent site, hosted by St. Stephens UMC, Mesquite, Texas. Subscribe here.
Editor Astle introduces this 71-page resource (emphases in the original):
One of the frustrations in reporting on The United Methodist Church since 1988 is that the issues and events which seem so important to the denomination's movers and shakers rarely filter down to the grassroots majority in pew and pulpit. This painful reality has spurred the creation of this resource from content published on United Methodist Insight from Jan. 1 through Sept. 30, 2022.
Those who've been most involved with the disaffiliation campaign – the break-up of the 50-year-old United Methodist denomination – may criticize this compilation as "too little, too late." Obviously, we don't hold to that view, mainly because the splintering of The United Methodist Church came to a head in May 2022, when the traditionalist Wesleyan Covenant Association launched the Global Methodist Church.
Insight's comments and emails through September 2022 have made it abundantly clear that many rank-and-file United Methodists still don't understand what's happening with disaffiliation. They've had so much misinformation thrown at them that they don't know what or who to trust. ...
We sincerely wish it were possible to codify disaffiliation in a few words, or even a few bullet lists. Unfortunately, the situation presents no easy explanations, hard as many on both ends of the United Methodist political spectrum have tried to reduce the dispute to its bare bones. Instead, we've tried to identify the most succinct and clear expressions of the disaffiliation debate and include them here.
One caveat: The content presented here focuses on another sad reality, namely the misinformation campaign conducted by traditionalists – predominantly the Wesleyan Covenant Association – has so warped the disaffiliation debate that the bulk of these articles seek to debunk lies used by the WCA and its companions. That makes this content suspicious and even false to many traditionalists. In this regard, we make no apologies for what has been presented by our many contributors, since we also have verified the falsehoods used by disaffiliation forces.
Those desiring even more details beyond this resource can conduct their own online searches using the words "UMC disaffiliation United Methodist Insight." This should lead to the vast array of news and views available on our website. Be prepared for a lengthy search, however; collecting raw material for this resource resulted in 479 letter-sized pages of content!
We wish to thank the many contributors who have allowed United Methodist Insight to publish or republish their content. These writers range from well-informed laypeople to pastors to academics to church bureaucrats and bishops. We hope their articles create a detailed, authentic picture of the United Methodist landscape.
As the Editor and Founder of United Methodist Insight, I can genuinely say that UMC disaffiliation has been the most challenging topic on which to write, report and edit of my 50-year career as a journalist. Ironically, I started as a professional journalist the same year that the creation of The United Methodist Church finally was completed. As a United Methodist layperson, disaffiliation also has been the most heart-breaking prospect of my life as a Christian of the Wesleyan tradition, as I've heard from dozens of church members whose lifelong
congregations have been torn away from them. I sincerely hope this compilation will benefit the many readers who've asked Insight for our help in understanding the path to United Methodism's future.
We don't know where we'll end up as we journey through this season of unraveling, but with our
founder John Wesley we can nonetheless affirm, "Best of all, God is with us!"
Cynthia B. Astle
Editor and Founder
United Methodist Insight
Sept. 20, 2022
If your church is looking at disaffiliation, you and your fellow church members can benefit from "Parting Ways," a new resource prepared from nine months of content on United Methodist Insight.
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Notes: Official responses to many questions and mis/disinformation issues can be found here. The Methodist Episcopal Church and The Methodist Episcopal Church, South merged in 1939 to form The Methodist Church, one of the two predecessor churches to The United Methodist Church, formed in 1968 with the Evangelical United Brethren Church.