Below are responses to a few of the questions that have been asked regarding the requirement that congregations in the Florida Conference who wish to disaffiliate obtain liability insurance.

What are the requirements and financial payment for churches who want to leave under Paragraph 2553?
Paragraph 2553, as approved by the General Conference in 2019 and supported by many of the organizations who are encouraging churches to disaffiliate, can be found here. It outlines a clear process that invites churches into a season of discernment and requires a 2/3 majority vote of the church membership and the approval of the annual conference. In Florida, we have had a total of 17 churches over the last two years utilize this process. Each church has received a disaffiliation checklist from their District office. The checklist outlines the method for churches to receive their financial obligations, as outlined in ¶ 2553. These obligations from each church vary based on the size of the church and include the payment of any unpaid apportionments for 12 months immediately preceding the disaffiliation, payment of an additional 12 months of apportionments, and payment of the local church’s pro rata share of the annual conference’s pension obligations. To read more about the annual conference’s pension obligations, please see the Wespath FAQ here. The 2019 General Conference also overwhelmingly passed another measure — ¶ 1504.23— that requires departing churches to pay a fair share of pension obligations no matter what mechanism they use to exit the denomination. The limited role of the annual conference is to determine what a local church’s share is based on their percentage of apportionment giving. After this process is complete, the church leaves the denomination with its property and assets. Paragraph 2553 allows annual conferences to “develop additional standard terms that are not inconsistent with the standard form of this paragraph.” Some annual conferences have added financial terms. The Florida Conference has not added any financial terms. The Florida Conference Board of Trustees, who is the church body tasked with approving disaffiliation agreements, does require any disaffiliating church to procure liability insurance to protect its congregation, The Florida Conference and other conference churches against claims made after disaffiliation.

How has the Florida Conference worked with churches who wish to disaffiliate?

In 2019, the General Conference of The United Methodist Church created a path for churches to disaffiliate and retain that property and it is found in ¶ 2553. With all churches who have requested to disaffiliate under ¶ 2553, we have acted in good faith to assist them in their departure. In response to the law firm who recently filed this lawsuit, we agreed to meet with them in good faith once the Judicial Council of The United Methodist Church had made a ruling on Paragraph 2548.2, which is the paragraph listed in the lawsuit. Claims that we have not been willing to meet with our local churches and process disaffiliations are simply untrue.

Additionally, Heather Hahn asked a question about our disaffiliation process and if it was adapted in any way and this was our answer in response that was vetted by our teams.  As discussed, you are free to try to answer people’s questions using the information below but if you have specific questions about any of this, let me know.

Heather’s Question:  Is the Florida Conference using Paragraph 2553 as written or if (as the measure itself allows), the conference has added to the terms. If the board of trustees has adapted the terms in any way, please let me know in what way and if possible the reasoning. I know context absolutely matters.

Our response:

Below is the Florida Annual Conference response to your question about our disaffiliation process under Paragraph 2553.  If you have any clarifying questions about this, let me know.

The Board of Trustees of The Florida Conference did not add any new financial terms to Paragraph 2553 as approved by General Conference 2019.  The only adaption The Board of Trustees of The Florida Conference made to the standard disaffiliation agreement approved by GCFA reflect the unique context of The Florida Conference’s Ministry Protection Insurance program. 

The Book of Discipline Par. 2553.4a expressly permits an annual conference to add standard terms to its Disaffiliation Agreement that are  not  inconsistent with  the  standard  form  adopted by GCFA.  The GCFA commentary on its standard form for Disaffiliation Agreements cites indemnification and insurance coverage as specific topics that an annual conference should consider in developing its standard form of Disaffiliation Agreement.

The Florida Conference, through its Ministry Protection Insurance program, provides property, liability and worker’s compensation insurance to all its churches, so a church that leaves the denomination has to obtain its own insurance. Accordingly, the Disaffiliation Agreement of The Florida Conference requires a disaffiliating church to procure liability insurance coverage to protect its congregation, The Florida Conference, and the churches in The Florida Conference against claims attributable to the disaffiliating church that are made after it disaffiliates from the denomination.  The specific requirements of the insurance coverage are outlined in The Florida Conference disaffiliation agreement which is approved by the Conference Board of Trustees. 

In the last two years, The Florida Conference has provided support to disaffiliating churches in obtaining and reviewing the necessary insurance coverage required by the disaffiliation agreement.  The Conference Board of Trustees have monitored and adjusted the requirements based on what churches have been able to procure.  The latest Florida Conference disaffiliation agreement and disaffiliation checklist are available to any Florida Conference church who requests it through their District Superintendent.