BY DAN HILDEBRAN
Telegraph Staff Writer
STARKE— The board of trustees of the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought against it by a Lawtey congregation and dozens of other churches.
Last July, 106 Florida churches sued the conference seeking to leave the United Methodist Church without having to pay penalties outlined in the denomination’s Book of Discipline.
The lead plaintiff is Lawtey’s Grace United Methodist Church.
“The Annual Conference has taken the position that it is entitled to keep the Grace UMC Property-which was owned and paid for by Grace UMC long before The UMC and the Annual Conference ever existed-unless Grace UMC pays a substantial payment of money as unilaterally determined by the Annual Conference defendants,” lawyers for the plaintiffs wrote in their complaint.
Acceptance of same-sex marriage
The congregations are seeking to separate themselves from the Florida conference because of what they claim is the latter’s acceptance of same-sex marriage and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy.
The official position of the Florida Conference, as outlined in the Book of Discipline, is that homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. The same document prohibits clergy from officiating same-sex weddings and the ordination of LGBTQ clergy.
However, the plaintiffs assert in their complaint that Bishop Kenneth H. Carter, who leads the statewide organization, has failed to enforce the prohibitions outlined in the Book of Discipline.
They cite an openly gay St. Petersburg bishop and a St. Petersburg pastor who officiated a same-sex wedding to support their claims.
Ecclesiastical abstention
In a Feb. 21 hearing in Starke, lawyers for the conference argued that the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine deprives the circuit court of jurisdiction over the dispute between the conference and the congregations.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment prohibits state interference not only into matters of faith and doctrine but also ‘matters of church government,’” wrote lawyers for the conference in a motion to dismiss. “The First Amendment protects the authority of religious institutions ‘with respect to internal management decisions that are essential to the institution’s central mission.’”
The defendants also claimed additional reasons for dismissing the lawsuit, including the claim that Bradford County is the improper venue for the litigation.
“Plaintiffs are required to plead facts sufficient to support a basis for venue in Bradford County, Florida, and failure to make these allegations this Court to dismiss the action for improper venue,” lawyers wrote. “Here, Plaintiffs fail to plead any facts regarding the residence of all Defendants except for the Annual Conference, which Plaintiffs allege is located in Polk County, Florida. Plaintiffs also fail to plead any facts regarding where the causes of action accrued.”
Half of plaintiffs settle
Since the lawsuit was first filed nearly eight months ago, around one-half of the original plaintiffs have dropped out of the litigation, including the First United Methodist Church of Starke, the Middleburg United Methodist Church and Pleasant Grove United Methodist Church in Starke. The Lawtey congregation, as well as the Keystone United Methodist Church, remain as plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
In addition to seeking the dismissal of the litigation, the defendants also asked Circuit Judge George Wright to impose sanctions on the plaintiffs for filing what the plaintiffs called a frivolous lawsuit.
“Plaintiffs and their counsel knew or should have known that Plaintiff’s claims lacked a basis in fact or law,” lawyers for the defendant wrote in a motion.
As of press time, the judge has not ruled on the plaintiff’s motions.
