2553 Study Group
This page provides links and resources regarding the disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church.
Upcoming Meetings
A vote taken at a special called church conference on Wednesday, August 9, 2023 at 7 pm resulted in a decision to disaffiliate. There were no further study group meetings.
Date: 5/18/23
Link to video of court hearing about disaffiliation and ruling on May 16, 2023.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhCVg-A2nWo
Date 9/16/2022
Additional links:
https://wesleyancovenant.org/2022/06/09/the-last-straw/
https://wesleyancovenant.org/2022/08/12/let-our-people-go/
https://www.sgaumc.org/disaffiliation
Date: 8/1/2022
From the progressive viewpoint:
This link to an article from the Pacific Northwest Conference has other links at the bottom of the article to read to do more research from this perspective.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVWXTHFrzeE – news story on 70 churches interviewing Greg Porterfield in Augusta district
From the centrist/institutionalist viewpoint:
BeUMC is the webpage dedicated to explaining what the UMC is about.
https://www.umc.org/en/who-we-are/our-people/beumc
#BeUMC on FaceBook is more slanted toward promoting readers to stay in the UMC as opposed to disaffiliating, and as with most FaceBook pages, it has some pretty extreme views, so you have to be discerning in your reading.
The LewisCenter is a reputable resource on subjects such as dealing with adversity in The church although a institutionalist concept on theological matters. We can certainly take heed to the concept presented in this article. https://www.churchleadership.com/leading-ideas/what-to-do-when-people-leave-your-church/
This is the resource page of the UMC campaign “BeUMC”. https://www.resourceumc.org/en/agencies/communications/church-and-conference-resources/people-of-god-campaign-new
From the conservative viewpoint:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8yiyTmwtUAwQEwHn7WMTTg
Here are several links to the Good News videos that Rob Renfroe did. Keith and Kim both have his book and will share it with anyone wishing to read it.
Video report from Trinity on The Hill UMC in Augusta as their committee studied the disaffiliation process. They had a large group with several subcommittees.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/globalmethodistchurch/permalink/808279883504733/
This is a link to an article written by Warren Lathem
Other information and references:
https://www.sgaumc.org/disaffiliation
Information about disaffiliation from the South Georgia Conference website.
Links and Resources
Date: 8/7/23
Link to video explaining the voting process
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8YJZsQ7aW8
Video from 2553 Study Group Session on 9/25/2022
Town Hall Meeting with Dan Parr
Video from 2553 Study Group Session on 9/18/2022
Town Hall Meeting with District Superintendent
Video from 2553 Study Group Session on 8/28/2022
Session 3
Video from 2553 Study Group Session on 8/21/2022
Session 2
