North Georgia Friends,


This is not the news we were hoping to share today. We had hoped that Conference trustees would be prepared this week to accept the terms of our proposal, as submitted earlier this year. Today (March 17), the Chancellor of the North Georgia Conference met with our attorneys but offered no commitment toward an agreement. He did share that a sub-committee of the Conference Trustees met yesterday to design a counter-proposal. That proposal will be presented to Annual Conference leaders next Thursday. The Chancellor indicated that a settlement proposal is expected to be sent to our attorneys next Thursday evening. Those pastors and church leaders who are part of the NCLL litigation process will meet next Friday in a closed meeting to debrief any announcement that is made.


Leaders of the Wesleyan Covenant Association (WCA) of North Georgia have been seeking a mutually agreeable settlement with officials of the North Georgia Conference that would avoid litigation since a pause was placed on the process in December. Seventy churches were able to leave under the terms of Par. 2553 last year. We continue to hope and pray for a reasonable agreement that allows all remaining north Georgia churches who wish to depart the UMC to do so in an a peaceful and timely manner.


We continue to pray and seek the Lord's best for our churches and communities, and we earnestly trust that Annual Conference leaders are doing the same.