Oak Hill Methodist Church in Lyerly
Several area Methodist churches have already taken steps to disaffiliate with the United Methodist Church. Oak Hill Methodist Church in Lyerly is one of those churches and has already dropped the “United Methodist” logo and name from their church and is now simply Oak Hill Methodist Church. The move by conservative churches to leave the denomination has been in the works for some time, but recently the conference that governs United Methodists in Northwest Georgia abruptly stopped the disaffiliation process.
The move by the North Georgia Conference means that churches that had been considering leaving the denomination will have to wait until the next North Georgia Conference meeting scheduled for later this year.
In all, around 70 churches in the North Georgia Conference have already disaffiliated. Five of those churches are in Chattooga County – Finley Chapel, Fishers Chapel, Lawrence Chapel, New Hope – Summerville, and Oak Hill Methodist Churches.
There are still over 700 churches in the North Georgia Conference, and several have been in discussions about leaving the denomination. The latest move by the North Georgia Conference means that those churches will have to wait to make a decision on becoming independent or joining a more conservative Methodist conference.
Methodist in the United States have weathered divisions before. The Northern and Southern Methodist Episcopal Churches split over slaver and were reunited in 1908. In 1968, Methodist and branch of the Brethren Church came together to form the United Methodist Church.
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