On Monday February 6, 2023, at 6 p.m. the congregants of Magee United Methodist Church and Mize United Methodist Church met in the sanctuary to hold a Special Charge Conference to take an official vote on disaffiliation from the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church.
The two congregations have been meeting together at Magee UMC for several years; however, for this meeting each member was required to cast votes under the banner of their home church.
The meeting was conducted by Rev. Mike Hicks, a retired elder with the United Methodist Church who is currently serving part time as the East Jackson/West Jackson Disaffiliation coordinator with the Mississippi Conference.
Rev. Hicks opened the meeting with prayer and explained the voting process to those present. Cynthia Keith, administrative assistant for Magee UMC, served as recording secretary.
Before the votes could be cast it was necessary for members from each congregation to read their motions to disaffiliate (Certificate to Disaffiliate) for the record. Lay Leader Mike Keith read for Magee UMC; church member Chuck Carter read for Mize UMC.
According to Rev. Hicks, “No second motion is required because it comes before you formally at this time.”
A copy of each church’s Certificate of Disaffiliation is on file at Magee UMC.
Each congregation had an opportunity to speak for or against the motions. The parameters to speak included limiting each church to three members and no more than three minutes per speaker. No one came forward.
At this point Rev. Hicks gave the instructions for voting. Each congregant had been given a secret ballot at the time he/she signed in. The ballot included space for the church name and date and a place to mark the ballot accordingly to remain a member of the United Methodist Church or disaffiliate from the Mississippi Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Once the voting was complete, tellers collected and counted the cast ballots. A 66 2/3 percent vote is required for disaffiliation to move on in the process, which will continue at the Annual Mississippi Conference in June 2023.
Magee UMC members voted 96.7 percent for disaffiliation and 3.3 percent to remain United Methodist. Mize UMC members voted unanimously for disaffiliation.
Both churches will disaffiliate.
Rev. Hicks then explained the next steps to complete disaffiliation. “All of this information will go to the Conference Office and will be processed by the conference legal team that is working with disaffiliation. Then there will be a vote at the Annual Conference session on June 28, 2023, where the Annual Conference will approve all of the disaffiliations.” Once approved final agreements will be forwarded to the appropriate parties with each congregation.
Rev. Hicks closed the Special Charge Conference at 6:23 p.m. with prayer.
Once the disaffiliation process is complete, Magee UMC will officially change its name to Christ Fellowship Church Magee LLC dba Christ Fellowship Church in a Wesleyan Tradition. Mize UMC will remain an affiliate of Christ Fellowship using the same name.
The congregation affirmed that it seeks to honor its 125 years of history while looking with hope toward the future at this new beginning. Christ Fellowship plans to adhere to original Wesleyan doctrine as established by John Wesley. The congregation desires to be a community church reaching out to serve not just Simpson County but border counties including but not limited to Covington and Smith. Members of Christ Fellowship Church share a universal goal to be a congregation that is warm, open and welcoming.
