United Methodists concluded their General Conference on Friday, May 3, by removing the last barriers to full equality of LGBTQ+ members in the life of the church. After repealing a 52-year-old declaration on Thursday that the practice of homosexuality is “incompatible with Christian teaching,” delegates on Friday went further, eliminating a passage in their Book of Discipline, or church law,
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Editor’s Note: Locally, only two congregations remain United Methodist Churches, St. Paul and St. James. Most Methodist congregations in Abilene and its jurisdictional region, the Northwest Texas Annual Conference, disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church to join the conservative Global Methodist Church or to become independent. The Global Methodist Church launched May 1, 2022. Since the disaffiliation process started, the
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By LORETTA FULTON Felicia Hopkins, former pastor of St. Paul United Methodist Church, was named Conference Superintendent during the June 1-2 meeting of the Northwest Texas Annual Conference in Lubbock. Most recently, Hopkins was Abilene District Superintendent. In her expanded role, Hopkins will oversee all the remaining United Methodist congregations in the NWTX Conference, stretching from Dalhart in the Panhandle
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By LORETTA FULTON Each December, members of Religion News Association, including Spirit of Abilene creator and editor Loretta Fulton, choose the top religion stories of the year. Those include the top national stories, international stories, and newsmaker of the year.Many of the Top 10 stories, as voted on by members, had local implications, including the No. 1 story, the Supreme
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Links to related Spirit of Abilene articles:Aldersgate Leaves UMC; Conference Forms Online Missional Churchhttps://spiritofabilene.com/2022/11/12/aldersgate-leaves-umc-conference-forms-online-missional-church/Methodists Must Decide: Will We Stay or Will We Go?https://spiritofabilene.com/2022/05/27/local-methodists-informed-about-decisions-on-whether-to-stay-or-leave/St. Paul to Remain United Methodisthttps://spiritofabilene.com/2022/10/17/st-paul-to-remain-united-methodist/Local Methodists Not United on Futurehttps://spiritofabilene.com/2022/10/10/local-methodists-not-united-on-future/Q&A With Dr. Sandra Harper, McMurry University Presidenthttps://spiritofabilene.com/2022/06/03/qa-with-dr-sandra-harper-mcmurry-university-president/ By LORETTA FULTON “We’re finally past the fighting,” a relieved Jeff Fisher said following the departure of 145 United Methodist
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By Loretta Fulton Aldersgate is the latest United Methodist Church congregation in Abilene to leave that denomination and join the new Global Methodist Church. With that decision by Aldersgate members, Abilene is down to two United Methodist Church congregations. Only St. Paul and St. James remain in the United Methodist Church fold as other local congregations are moving to the
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By LORETTA FULTON Aldersgate United Methodist Church has moved up its date to vote on disaffiliation to 6 p.m. Nov. 10. Originally, the church was set to vote sometime in 2023, according to Dustin Wilhite, pastor. At stake is whether to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church and join the new conservative branch of Methodism called Global Methodist Church or
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By LORETTA FULTON The United Methodist Church is united no more. A number of local congregations have voted to disaffiliate with the UMC and join the new Global Methodist Church. That trend is expected to continue in Abilene and across the Northwest Texas Annual Conference, a regional jurisdiction. For those who have voted to disaffiliate, the change takes effect Jan.
Read moreUnited Methodists reacted to the Supreme Court’s overturn of the 1973 landmark abortion ruling in Roe v Wade with varying opinions. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Friday, June 24, to uphold the decision in a case styled The Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. The Supreme Court ruling gives the power to regulate abortions back to the states. Even
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