Tyranical Edict Issued For Disaffiliating Methodist Churches

Jacked out of shape over churches and congregants disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church, the bishop of the Western North Carolina Annual Conference issued an edict forbidding those departing the denomination edging ever closer to the precipice of apostasy from recruiting members from among those remaining for now or even publicly discussing why they arrived at this particular decision in this discernment process.

Those departing are no longer under his ecclesiastical authority.

How can such a dictatorial decree be legitimately enforced?

Individuals might be barred from setting foot on United Methodist property.

However, it is an abridgement of both constitutional and human rights to prevent someone from encouraging friends and family from pursuing a course of action that is an exercise of individual preference that is in no way criminal or even immoral.

by Frederick Meekins