New church plants provide hope, unity and faith

When a church chooses to disaffiliate, it usually leaves behind a “remnant group” of committed United Methodists who are dedicated to The UMC’s mission and connection. Many of these groups have joined together to grieve, heal and establish new United Methodist congregations in their communities.

Hear from four of these new congregations:

Finding unity in Christ

“I have never planted a church before nor has anyone else in our congregation. It is forcing us to get on our hands and knees to pray, wait and truly focus on who we are called to be,” shares the Rev. Jennifer Hodson of Bryan Community Church. “We are purposefully choosing not to allow our differences to separate us from worshiping God and being in ministry together. It is Jesus Christ who unites us. Period. In a world that is so divided, we are choosing to stay together.”

The Rev. Karen Jones remembers the first Easter service at Open Hearts UMC. She reflects, “We had felt the persecution, trials and death of our church but [we were] unsure what resurrection would look like as a people who wanted to remain together as United Methodists. So the celebration of the resurrection felt very real for our congregation who had grieved and grown together, and were finally living into a new and fruitful life. It was just such a joyful occasion for everyone to see how God's promises were being fulfilled for us and through us.”

“The strength people have displayed in the face of congregational disaffiliations… stemmed from the creative and transformative nature of God. God is the power and center of our existence, empowering us to reach into the unknown and telling us not to fear,” says the Rev. Ellen Thornburg, associate pastor at Love UMC.

Laity are taking the lead

While each new church has a pastor and supportive staff persons in place, the laity of the congregations are stepping up to ensure the church has the support it needs to take root and grow.

“There is so much opportunity before us, placed within our grasp. And we find ourselves precisely where John Wesley intended: With much responsibility resting upon the shoulders of the laity,” says J.F. Knapp, Grace UMC’s lay leader. “Now is the time for laity across The UMC to join arms in true partnership with our clergy and be the church we are called to be! That haven from the storms of life, that place of peace and healing, that place of encouragement where the love of Christ is found in overflowing abundance!”

The Rev. Leigh Ann Raynor, who left retirement in order to serve Grace UMC, says, “I never envisioned myself in the role of helping to start a new church, but ‘help’ is all I have done.  This church is beautifully gifted with people who are excited about its ministry and eager to be a part of it.

“[God] has placed people with gifts to match our every need, from musicians to missions, from altar guild to finances, from dreamers to strategists. Without being asked, we had people volunteer to do things like create a weekly bulletin, build a webpage and other media presence, design a logo, provide a keyboard, serve as musicians, organize and serve on various committees. There literally has not been a need that a church member didn’t fill.”

Building ministry on a blank page

“Another favorite part of leading this congregation is being free to be creative and adaptive. In other ministry settings, you have to inherit systems, programs, and proverbial ‘golden calves’...old wineskins. But as a new church, we had to build every ministry, system and procedure from scratch and I felt free to create new wineskins. It allowed us to grow and adapt as we needed, as the Holy Spirit guided us. There is a joyful freedom in this kind of work,” observes Jones.

New name, new identity

In every church start, the congregation played a key role in choosing a name through various discernment and suggestion processes. In all cases, the names make a public statement about the congregation’s identity.

“Working separately, each [small group] presented ‘Grace’ as one of its choices, and from that day on we were Grace United Methodist Church. Grace was the one thing we thought the disaffiliated churches were missing,” says Raynor.

“Open Hearts UMC quickly communicates to the world with unmistakable clarity who we know ourselves to be – that we are a congregation that loves like Christ and we are open to all. It also makes the bold statement that we are committed to the United Methodist denomination, borrowing from the brand promise, ‘Open hearts. Open minds. Open doors.,’” says Jones.

“We wanted to be sure that our church communicates to those both within its walls and outside that we are there to love and care for the people God has placed in our lives – the community of Bryan and all of Brazos Valley,” shares Hodson.

Faith in action

The churches haven’t hesitated to reach out to their neighbors and establish meaningful ministries. Bryan Community Church has adopted an elementary school and supports a non-profit organization that distributes medical supplies.

Love UMC has a group of musicians who take music programs to schools, senior living communities, festivals and other locations in order to share the Gospel through song. They also partner with a housing program for undocumented minors. The Rev. Luis Ramirez shares, “This is, perhaps, the most significant kinship witness that Love UMC is developing in the community."

Laura Buchanan works for UMC.org at United Methodist Communications. Contact her by email.

This story was published on September 19, 2024.