The United Methodist Church as a denomination (UMC) has become increasingly divided on several issues of great importance. The members of the CSUMC Administrative Council have wrestled with these issues individually for months – many for years. At our meeting on January 31, 2023, we voted to evaluate and discern the direction that God is leading us as a congregation. At the conclusion of this process, we can decide officially whether or not we desire to request a vote on disaffiliation. We wrestled with our decision to begin this season of discernment because we do not want to interrupt what God is doing in our church family and through our ministries. We hope to take great care during this time to ensure as little interruption as possible to our core church mission. During this important period, we hope that each of our members will feel free to voice opinions on the topics we will consider in our discernment. Our main areas of concern fall into two broad categories:

Human Sexuality:

Our CSUMC Administrative Council feels that it is important that all Bishops, Pastors and the general congregation adhere to the Book of Discipline – a position which puts us at odds with a significant portion of the UMC, particularly the leadership within the United Methodist Church.

Theological Differences

Human Sexuality is often presented as “the issue” dividing the UMC and as the reason congregations are disaffiliating. There are, however, also major disagreements within in the UMC as to “how we view Jesus”. CSUMC, we believe, joins others in the UMC in standing for the authority of Scripture and Biblical truth voiced often by those of the traditionalist persuasion.

Please join us in asking God’s guidance during this period of discernment. May God continue to bless the members and mission of Crystal Springs United Methodist Church.