Discernment Team Updates | Centenary United Methodist Church

Update: January 22, 2023 : Meeting set for Feb 26. Recommendation passed.

The Discernment Team made two motions at Church Council on January 17, 2023. First, the team recommended setting aside February 26, 2023 for church members to vote on disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church. This motion passed, 20-Yes, 2-No. Subsequently, the Discernment Team made a motion that the Church Council affirm the recommendation of the Discernment Team that it is in Centenary’s best interest to disaffiliate from the United Methodist denomination for reasons of conscience regarding the UMC’s actions and the inaction of our annual conference on matters of human sexuality. The silence of the Annual Conference’s leadership regarding these matters represents “inaction,” while the lack of accountability continues all the way to the general church. This motion also passed, 17-Yes, 2-No, 3-Abstain.

There will be an informational meeting for the church on Sunday, January 29, 2023, from 10:00 – 11:00 am in the sanctuary. If you have any questions you would like to have answered, please submit them in writing or via email so that they may be addressed during the meeting. Written questions may be dropped off to the church office; emailed questions may be sent to patb63@hotmail.com.

Please keep Centenary in your prayers as we navigate through this season in our history.

Update: December 18, 2022. Church Wide Meeting, January 4th 5:30 PM

The Discernment Team has been meeting and trying to give you information as we discover it, concerning the disaffiliation process. Several of you have filled out the forms for information, several of you have emailed us with information you have and/or your feelings towards this process. Here is the latest information we have to share with you:

The Discernment Team has requested pertinent information from the District Superintendent to help us discern possible courses of action/inaction in response to current events in the United Methodist Church. We now have a preliminary figure for the costs Centenary would be responsible for to the Kentucky Annual Conference in the case of disaffiliation.

This Sunday (12/18/22), the Discernment Team will be meeting with a group advocating for remaining in the United Methodist denomination. Also, this week, we are meeting with someone advocating disaffiliating from the United Methodist church. We will update you with information from those meetings soon.

We will be having a church-wide meeting on January 4, 2023, at 5:30 PM in order to present information gathered so far, as well as for you to ask any questions you may have concerning this topic. A meal will be provided (adult cost will be $6.00 per the usual Wednesday evening affair) and childcare will be provided from 6:15 until 7:30 PM.

This meeting will not be a debate upon taking any action, nor will it be a forum for promoting any one particular course of action. This will be strictly an informational meeting concerning the discernment process and available information for the congregation.

Please continue to be a loving church, while keeping the teachings and truth of the Bible and the words of God in our hearts. We have no place for hatred in our midst. Though we might disagree with one another, as Christians we must still show love and compassion towards all, even those who aggravate us.

Let us be accused of being Christians.

Update: December 11, 2022

The Discernment Team has been meeting and trying to give you information as we discover it, concerning the disaffiliation process. Several of you have filled out the forms for information (repeated on the back of this insert; several of you have emailed us with information you have and/or your feelings towards this process. Here is the latest information we have to share with you:

The Discernment Team has requested pertinent information from the District Superintendent to help us discern possible courses of action/inaction in response to current events in the United Methodist Church. We will be meeting with our District Superintendent this Sunday afternoon (12/11/22).

This past Sunday (12/04/22), there was a special called Annual Conference to approve the requests for disaffiliation from 57 United Methodist churches in Kentucky. Previously, 23 churches had their disaffiliation requests approved by the Annual Conference. You can learn more about the process at the following link:

Kentucky Conference: Kentucky Annual Conference approves disaffiliation of 57 churches (kyumc.org)

This link also lists the churches who had their disaffiliation requests approved.

Please continue to be a loving church, while keeping the teachings and truth of the Bible and the words of God in our hearts. We have no place for hatred in our midst. Though we might disagree with one another, as Christians we must still show love and compassion towards all, even those who aggravate us.

To send the team feedback, please see the form below (in the previous update) or email patb63@hotmail.com.

Let us be accused of being Christians.

Update: November 20, 2022

As an ongoing attempt to keep our congregation informed about the current situation in the United Methodist denomination and possible impacts, Centenary has formed a Discernment Team to discuss possible recommendations for decisions to be made by the church. The members of the Discernment Team are:

Jill Winter, Bob Rowland, Matthew Overing, Chris Morgan, ex-officio member, Taryn Jacobus, Molly Jacobus, John Duff, ex-officio member, Donnie Dampier, Randal Carter and Pat Bennett.

This team has been meeting and has requested pertinent information from the District Superintendent to help us discern possible courses of action/inaction in response to current events in the United Methodist Church. In addition, we would like to gather input from the congregation to better inform us as to your concerns and hopes for moving forward as a church.

In so doing, we want to remind everyone that our church is a sanctuary for all. The Bible, as well as the Book of Discipline, requires that we show love to all. We are open to all people to come and worship in our midst. We have no place for hatred in our midst. Though we might disagree with one another on politics, education, sports, or the proper method to brush teeth, as Christians we must still show love and compassion towards all, even those who aggravate us.

This church has been a loving church. We have welcomed people regardless of their circumstances. We should continue to be a loving church, while keeping the teachings and truth of the Bible and the words of God in our hearts.

So, if you have questions about the discernment process, questions about why this is happening, or just want your thoughts to be known to the Discernment Team, please fill out the form below. There has been a form in the bulletin that you may place in the offering plate, drop off at the front desk, mail to the church office, or email it to patb63@hotmail.com. Because this is a critical process and we are constrained within a certain time frame, we hope you feel free to discuss this with any member of the Discernment Team, but we would like to have a tangible record (even though submitted anonymously) for the team to use for reference in our discussions.

Thank you.

Pat Bennett

Discernment Team

If you’d like to complete this online, you can do so by filling out the following: https://danvillecumc.info/discernmentquestions