The United Methodist Church and the Global Methodist Church are locked in a legal battle over at least seven properties in the West African nation of Liberia.
Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr., head of the UMC Liberia Conference, confirmed to UM News that the church property cases are being litigated in the nation’s courts, calling the process “very tedious and cost intensive.”
“We’re very hopeful that with God on our side and some financial support from our partners, we will overcome,” Quire was quoted as saying.
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“While we were at our conference, a GMC surrogate filed an injunction in court for the sole purpose of disrupting and closing down of our conference. By the grace of God, this attempt was thwarted by our legal team.”
Quire accused GMC members of trying “to seize some of our local churches by force, criminally removing our logos from the edifices and replacing them with GMC insignia.”
“This has led The United Methodist Church to resort to the legal process,” the bishop added.
The GMC in Liberia is led by the Rev. Jerry Kulah, who, along with other supporters, was arrested last month when demonstrating at one of the disputed church properties. He said he was released after two hours and claims no charges were filed against him.
“The police said they heard that there was rioting and stone throwing,” said Kulah, as reported by UM News. “They could not answer when I asked who was rioting.”
“When church members gather to worship in an open space were they rioting among themselves? They could not answer, and there was no video footage to back up their allegations.”
Kulah has argued that Quire had previously agreed to have the regional body leave the UMC if the mainline denomination changed its rules on sexuality and LGBT issues, which it did at the UMC General Conference last year.
“Bishop and all of us agreed that the day the UMC worldwide passes this law, we will leave from there (UMC),” Kulah said in recent remarks, as quoted by the Monrovia-based Women Voices Newspaper.
“Bishop is on video, where he went from church to church, district to district, to inform the districts that when this happens, the UMC Liberia will leave. … We have chosen not to follow him.”
At the General Conference last May, delegates voted to remove from the Book of Discipline a host of rules, including bans on same-sex marriage ceremonies, the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals and the funding of LGBT advocacy groups. UMC also removed a statement declaring homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching.”
These changes occurred in large part because of the departure of around 7,500 mostly conservative congregations from the UMC in the last few years over disagreement with the refusal of many progressive leaders to enforce the rules in the Book of Discipline on LGBT issues.
Thousands of the departing churches joined the Global Methodist Church, which was launched in 2022 as a theologically conservative alternative to the UMC.
The government of Liberia does not legally recognize same-sex marriage and also criminally punishes homosexuality. Additionally, LGBT ideology is largely rejected by society.
In June 2024, shortly after the denomination approved the changes, Liberian Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr. issued a statement saying his conference would retain the traditional standards on marriage and ordination.
However, many argued that the regional body should still leave the UMC due to the General Conference vote and that the properties should go to the newly launched GMC of Liberia.
The Liberian Senate has since stepped in and organized an effort to mediate between the two Methodist denominations, holding the first official hearing on the issue last month.
“The Joint Committee was able to de-escalate tensions between the two parties and ensure the neutrality of the police in this matter,” explained Sen. J. Gbleh-bo Brown of Maryland County, as quoted by The Liberian Investigator.
“Once both parties agree to this approach, we will formulate a plan of action to be submitted to the Plenary, with the hope that all involved will participate.”
Tensions between UMC and GMC adherents vying for church properties have also boiled over in Nigeria, where violent attacks in Munga Dosa resulted in three United Methodists being killed and multiple houses being burned last December.
Last month, UMC Council of Bishops President Tracy Malone released a statement condemining “violence as a means of conflict resolution” after Nigeria Bishop Ande Emmanuel and other UMC members were attacked while doing ministry work.
