Highland Park Methodists who want to remain part of the United Methodist Church will worship in the Prothro Great Hall at SMU’s Perkins School of Theology starting at 10 a.m. Nov. 15.
Just ahead of the Nov. 11 announcement of the new location, Highland Park Methodist Church had filed an application on Nov. 10 seeking a temporary restraining order preventing the Horizon Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church from “using the names “Highland Park United Methodist Church,” “Highland Park United Methodists,” “Highland Park UMC,” “HPUMC,” or”HPUMC Oasis,” or any other name or designation confusingly similar to “Highland Park United Methodist Church” or “HPUMC,” in connection with any worship service, ministry, fundraising, website, social-media account, signage, or other public communication.”
Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. of the Horizon Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church on Oct. 29 appointed longtime assistant to the bishop Andy Lewis as senior pastor for those who want to remain part of the denomination, temporarily worshipping at University Park United Methodist Church on Nov. 1, and reappointed Matt Tuggle and Paul Rasmussen “to other duties.” That appointment came after newly renamed Highland Park Methodist Church, meeting at 3300 Mockingbird Lane and led by Matt Tuggle, voted in favor of leaving the denomination in a congregational vote on Oct. 26. The vote came amid a legal dispute with the conference over the church’s governing documents.
“The hall will offer the congregation a welcoming space with room to grow as they worship at one of The United Methodist Church’s seminaries. Perkins’ hospitality is also one of the many ways United Methodists across our connection have surrounded Highland Park with care and support in recent days. Churches have offered musicians and groups to support worship, conference Care and Healing leaders are organizing a grief group, and messages of prayer and encouragement have come from across the connection,” the Horizon Texas Conference shared in a post about the new worship location.
In a filing Nov. 10, Highland Park Methodist Church is seeking a temporary restraining order barring the conference from “using the names “Highland Park United Methodist Church,” “Highland Park United Methodists,” “Highland Park UMC,” “HPUMC,” or”HPUMC Oasis,” orany other name or designation confusingly similar to “Highland Park United Methodist Church” or “HPUMC,” in connection with any worship service, ministry, fundraising, website, social-media account, signage, or other public communication.”
“Congregants were uncertain where to meet and which communications were actually from the Church, while donors withheld contributions out of concern that their money might go to Plaintiff. When informed ofthis confusion, Plaintiff moved its competing, identically named congregation even closer literally across the parking lot from the Church while continuing to solicit donations using the Church’s legal name and mark,” a filing from HPMC seeking the TRO reads.
The conference, in its filing in response to HPMC argues that the court doesn’t have jurisdiction over ecclesiastical issues and that only United Methodist entities can use “United Methodist” in their names.
“As a matter of United Methodist church law, only United Methodist entities may use “United Methodist” in their names, and the denomination has ecclesiastically determined HP Corporation is not United Methodist. Additionally, the requested injunction would impose an unconstitutional prior restraint on religious speech and assembly by prohibiting the Conference and its congregants from gathering for worship as they deem fit.,” the conference’s filing read.
HPUMC has been a congregation of the United Methodist Church or its predecessors for 110 years.
Immediately following the two-day voting process on Oct. 26, the Horizon Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church said in a statement that “a congregational vote does not, by itself, sever a local church’s relationship with the United Methodist Church.”
Conference officials have said a framework under the Book of Discipline that allowed for disaffiliation amid a schism around issues such as the ordination of LGBTQ+ clergy and the performance of same-sex marriages expired on Dec. 31, 2023.
“We will not walk away from you. Our goal remains a vibrant United Methodist church at the corner of Hillcrest and Mockingbird: a congregation governed as a United Methodist church, connected to the wider church and open to all. We will keep pursuing that goal faithfully, patiently and through every proper path available to us. This is not the end of the story,” Saenz previously wrote.
In a statement, the church council had said the bishop’s announcement “changes nothing” for them.
“This Sunday, we will worship as usual with our clergy, including our Senior Minister, Rev. Matt Tuggle at the pulpit – at our Church on the corner of Mockingbird and Hillcrest,” the church council said on Oct. 29. “As we have said many times, we will continue to protect our beloved and incredible clergy including the Rev. Matt Tuggle and the Rev. Paul Rasmussen. They did not choose to be in this situation any more than our Church did, but we are committed to their care, just as they have cared for us.”
HPMC’s Church Council had called for the congregational vote on whether or not the church should separate from the denomination earlier this month following an August lawsuit filed by the conference over HPUMC’s governing documents and had recommended a vote to leave the denomination.
Following the vote, the church council shared in a statement that the congregation would begin worshipping as Highland Park Methodist Church Sunday, Nov. 1.
“In the coming weeks, we will begin working to operationalize the changes required by this separation, with a goal to have that work completed by December 1, 2026,” the church council shared in a statement after the vote. “This was not an easy decision, and we know it has not been made lightly. For many of us, it is a painful, difficult, and emotional decision. For others, the decision was straightforward. Regardless of your perspective, we want to assure you that our Church will continue to operate as it has, and we will continue to be who we are. We will remain united by our identity and mission in Christ, rather than divided by our differences.”
The August lawsuit filed by the Horizon Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church, a regional governing body which covers North Texas, stems from changes the 100-plus-year-old church’s leadership made to its governing documents in 2022 and 2023.
Among the changes specifically at issue is the church’s changing its corporate name filed with the Office of the Secretary of State from “Highland Park United Methodist Church” to “Highland Park Methodist Church” in 2022.
The lawsuit further alleges that the church also adopted amended bylaws that year, which “i) remove all references to The United Methodist Church, the Conference, and the Discipline; ii) remove the rights of HP Church members to participate in any matter ‘affecting or involving the Church’; and iii) remove the members’ right to participate in determining the denomination of HP Church, including selection of the Church Council.”
HPMC has said in a statement on its website that the church changed its corporate documents in accordance with guidance in 2020 from Texas courts “on managing church affairs under neutral principles of Texas law,” and that HPUMC worked with the conference on the corporate name change. HPUMC further stated that the church’s Charge Conference voted unanimously to delegate governance to the Church Council in 1998.
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