Members of Highland Park United Methodist Church in Dallas who voted to leave The United Methodist Church gathered Sunday for their first worship service since the vote, using the name Highland Park Methodist Church.
The service comes nearly three months after the denomination’s Horizon Texas Conference sued the church over changes to its governing documents.
The conference said the vote does not, by itself, sever the church’s ties to the denomination.
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Highland Park Methodist Church hosted 7,950 people across all services over the weekend, according to the church. Last week, it had about 6,500 attendees.
Members who stayed with Highland Park United Methodist Church gathered to worship in the sanctuary of the nearby University Park United Methodist Church.
The Horizon Texas Conference sued the North Texas church in August, alleging that its council changed the church’s corporate name and governing documents in 2022 and 2023 to remove references to The United Methodist Church and take away denominational oversight.
In 2022, the church council amended its articles of incorporation and bylaws without a properly called charge conference, changing the official corporate name to Highland Park Methodist Church, removing references to The United Methodist Church and the Book of Discipline, and shifting authority away from the conference.
The church has called the lawsuit meritless.
“The Church Council knew, as good stewards of a historic congregation, that it needed to ensure that if the Church maintained its ecclesiastical connection with the UMC, it was legally insulated from the ecclesiastical and doctrinal strife within UMC,” the church said in court documents.
Filed in Dallas County District Court by the Horizon Texas Conference, the lawsuit argues the changes are invalid under United Methodist Church rules and seeks a permanent injunction.
Last week, roughly 90% of participating Highland Park members voted to sever ties with The United Methodist Church, America’s second-largest Protestant denomination, with plans to complete the operational separation by December.
Bishop Ruben Saenz Jr. of the Horizon Texas Conference said the congregational vote did not follow United Methodist Church policy and does not end the church’s ties to the denomination.
“Our Book of Discipline does not authorize a local church to unilaterally leave the denomination, and the temporary process that once allowed churches to disaffiliate ended in 2023,” Bishop Saenz said in a statement.
The Rev. Dr. Abe Smith of the new Highland Park Methodist Church acknowledged the “unique” change during Sunday’s 9:30 a.m. worship service.
“You will see, there is all kinds of activity and confusion and wondering about who some people say we are, who some people say we are not, and all the pieces in between,” the executive minister said.
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