This was a report written after the Nov. 19, 2022, Annual Conference of the Arkansas United Methodist Church, during which disaffiliation petitions for about three dozen Arkansas churches were to be considered. I was part of the delegation opposing the disaffiliation of the First United Methodist Church of Jonesboro. This report was first published on our group's Facebook page Nov. 21, 2022.
By Roy Ockert Jr.
Especially for those who could not attend the special called session of the Arkansas Annual Conference, but also for those who did, the following is a report to document what happened.
About 35 members of Stay UMC Jonesboro, including a couple of spouses who are not Methodists, attended, and most of us wore something red. Some arrived at Horner Hall in the Hot Springs Convention Center more than an hour before the 10 a.m. start time because we had been told there might not be enough seating for all non-delegates. That was not a problem. We were easily the largest delegation, and we took over one of the four sections for spectators. There were many empty seats in the other three sections.
The morning session was mostly taken up by some parliamentary maneuvering and efforts to get the voting system planned to work properly. I had wondered how voting would be done. With more than 600 delegates, you can’t do paper balloting on 38 questions in one day. We were told before the meeting started that delegates would have an app for their cell phones or tablets and would be able to log in with their name and a code on the back of their badges.
Oh-oh.
Getting 600 people to use the same computer app can be an all-day affair by itself. And use of the app would depend on the efficiency of the HSCC wifi. It never worked in the morning.
What did happen, though, was that the convention decided to consider the disaffiliation agreements of 25 of the 38 churches on the conference agenda in one block — i.e., all that had church conference votes of 90 percent or higher for disaffiliation. Actually, 22 of those had been reported as unanimous. The original motion — apparently promoted by disaffiliation proponents — had been to consider all 38 as a block. The argument was — and this would become a common theme for proponents — all 38 churches had voted to disaffiliate and the disaffiliation agreements had been approved by the state Board of Trustees, so the conference just had to issue its “rubber stamp.”
If passed as originally proposed, that would have been interesting and could have backfired on the proponents. Instead, a substitute motion was offered to consider the 25 as a block and the rest separately. That eventually passed overwhelmingly on a show of hands (because the wifi wasn’t working).
Then most of those present made a mad dash to reach the restaurants within walking distance.
After the lunch break the convention began with the list of remaining churches on the agenda, ranked according to their church conference vote percentage. With the lowest percentage, 69, First UMC Jonesboro would be last.
The first few were non-controversial because no delegates rose to oppose their disaffiliation. Grace Conway and Smyrna passed easily on a show of hands.
Mount Tabor Cabot was a little more difficult — a preview of coming attractions. For that church a full debate was needed, meaning three 2-minute speeches for each side. The show of hands was closer, so tellers were called in to count people standing for each side. The result was announced as 323 for disaffiliation and 252 against.
St. Paul Searcy also required a debate before its agreement was passed 337 to 245, again on a standing count.
Stuttgart First and Hot Springs Piney Grove, pastored by former Jonesboro FUMC associate pastor Scott Gallimore, passed with no debate.
Needless to say, our Stay UMC Jonesboro group was feeling more apprehensive because nothing had really been close. Then came Cabot First, which was actually the third Cabot church on the list since The Journey had been among the unanimous batch. Meanwhile, an effort was going on behind the scenes to find a fix for the wifi problem, and that was finally successful.
The hand count on Cabot First was obviously more evenly divided than previous ones so a standing count was taken. Again the house appeared to be evenly divided so the presiding officer, Bishop Gary Mueller, decided to test the electronic voting setup. That resulted in a negative vote against disaffiliation, the first of the day, 310 to 296.
The bishop declared a break, and our group was feeling better about our chances. The situation at Cabot First had been similar to ours, with a strong Stay UMC effort.
When business resumed, disaffiliation proponents, thinking they smelled a fix or at least an inaccurate count, requested a standing count to confirm the electronic one. The bishop declined, reasoning that the total votes cast had been similar to previous votes and to a test of the electronic system. His ruling was appealed but then upheld.
After that, the remaining church agreements were decided by electronic voting. Here are the results going into the final two:
Siloam Springs First — passed 418 to 173.
Christ, Texarkana — passed 461 to 127.
Fordyce First — passed 327 to 264.
Searcy First, the second of that city’s two major UMC churches, prompted a sharp debate. And then came the second surprising vote of the day — 305 votes against disaffiliation, 287 for.
That brought the agenda down to Jonesboro First, the second-largest UMC church in Arkansas and the largest on the list of agreements. Those who spoke against disaffiliation — first Stephen Coburn, then Hammett Evans and J.J. Whitney — presented magnificent arguments in our behalf. Rev. Coburn was admonished by the bishop at one point when he mentioned the use of Breaking Bonds to bolster the church membership roster. Mueller asked the conference secretary to read several passages from Roberts Rules of Order and then allowed Coburn to finish.
The best argument of the three speakers for disaffiliation was presented by our former pastor, Fred Haustein. But he included one interesting statement — that he loves the United Methodist Church and hopes to continue as a UMC member. Since he is a voting elder of the UMC, that seemed to contradict the argument to leave.
The vote was taken electronically, and then announced as 335 against disaffiliation, 254 for — the largest difference of the three that were rejected Saturday. Our delegation — quietly, of course, because we had been called down once for applauding — began celebrating. Within minutes, the business session closed and tension of the day erupted into hugs, tears, handshakes and joyous laughter.
Many of us stayed for Communion. Others headed out on the 3-hour return trip to Jonesboro. Many of us joined together for a brief get-together at the Embassy Suites and some more celebrating.
During the day many delegates approached members of our group to let us know that the letter we sent out really helped them see what had happened in Jonesboro. At the hotel, when I made a quick trip to my room to get my laptop, I was in the elevator with a couple of delegates, who asked me how I felt about the vote. I responded, “Happy and relieved.” She then said she probably would have voted yes on all churches voting to leave, but when she saw our delegation, that convinced her. “If that many people would come all the way from Jonesboro, it must be very important to you,” she said. “It is,” I said as the door opened at my floor.
Sunday morning Pat and I went to the St. Mary’s of the Springs, one of two historic Catholic churches in Hot Springs. A lifelong Catholic, she had spent all day Saturday with Methodists and had been just as elated as I was with the outcome, so I thought she should go to Mass.
Now the question is: Will we be allowed to help bring our congregation back together?