August 15th, 2023
Dear CrossRoad,
This past week, we voted 96% to 4% to join the Global Methodist Church. This means that CrossRoad Church will apply to join the GMC, effective September 1st. We will continue to update you through that process.
And continuing the good news, between what has been pledged and what has been donated already, we have received more than the total amount needed towards our disaffiliation cost of $262,124! Anything extra will be put towards other costs associated with disaffiliation, such as updating signage, etc.
While there is still work to be done, thank you so much for your prayers these last months; we know it has been a lot of information to read through, meetings to attend, and prayers to pray! We are so grateful to the Staff and to each of YOU for leading well through this season of change and uncertainty. As we look towards the next 27 years of CrossRoad Church’s ministry, we also look backward and see all the ways God has walked beside us. CrossRoad is who CrossRoad is because of the powerful ways in which God answered prayers, changed lives, and served Jacksonville. And as we pray for our future, we are grateful for how He is already working in and through each of you, and we are grateful to be on this journey with you.
With gratitude and hope,
CrossRoad Church Council
Previous Updates
We have spent time together this summer discussing options for CrossRoad’s future denominational home. At our last church family meeting, we discussed being independent and why we don’t think that’s the right fit for CrossRoad. We shared a comparison of other Methodist and Wesleyan denominations and why the Global Methodist Church (GMC) remains the council’s unanimous recommendation for CrossRoad’s future. We held a meeting on August 2 to share more details about the GMC and to have time for Q&A and prayer. It is now time to vote.
The church vote was Sunday, August 13, following the service. The ballot was to join the Global Methodist Church or to be independent.
All members could vote, and there was a process for absentee votes.
As the vote was approved, we will apply to join the Global Methodist Church effective September 1, 2023. We will then be able to start the process with the GMC for a new lead pastor to be appointed to CrossRoad. We look forward to it being a more collaborative process than what we have previously experienced.
We also wanted to let you know that a special session of the Florida Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church was held on August 5 and CrossRoad was one of 46 churches approved to disaffiliate from the UMC. We will submit our new certificate of insurance and make the disaffiliation payment to the UMC and the effective date of disaffiliation will be September 1, 2023.
Between what has been pledged and what has been donated already, we have been blessed over and above our disaffiliation cost of $262,124. Any overages will be put toward other costs associated with disaffiliation, such as updating signage, etc. To contribute towards disaffiliation costs, please contact Susan Lewis at susan@crossroad.church.
If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to us individually or email us at questions@crossroad.church.
For more information, please visit globalmethodist.org or floridagmc.org.
Thank you for your continued prayers and support. This has been a challenging season in the life of our church, and we are grateful for how God has helped us walk this journey together. God has given us a truly special gift in this body of Christ called CrossRoad Church and we are so thankful for you.
With gratitude and hope,
The Church Counc
A special called Church Conference was held June 3rd for CrossRoad Church members to vote on disaffiliation from the United Methodist Church. The votes were counted, and 88.6% were in favor of disaffiliating from the United Methodist Church. This surpasses the 2/3 majority required by ¶2553 of the UM Book of Discipline. There was more work to be done by the Church Council and the staff leading up to the Annual Conference vote on August 5, 2023, and the Annual Conference approved CrossRoad’s disaffiliation. The effective date will be September 1, 2023.
- In addition to meeting the UMC’s requirements for disaffiliation, the Church Council has been working with our legal partners to form a new legal entity called CrossRoad Church, Inc. Assuming everything goes as planned, all of the church’s assets will be transferred to this new legal entity when CrossRoad disaffiliates.
- The trustees are working to secure property and liability insurance, including “tail coverage” for the last three years as required by the Florida Annual Conference.
- After paying July and August’s regular insurance and apportionment payments, we owe $262,124 by September 1st to be able to disaffiliate.
- There will be other costs in addition to that, as we’ll need to remove UMC from our name and logo everywhere. Signage, letterhead, email addresses, etc. We have a couple months to make those changes but the UMC amount has to be paid by August 31.
- 100% of your Council has committed to contributing to the disaffiliation fund. But this endeavor should include the entire church, each of you. This is your chance to be a partner, a vested member of your church as we move forward. We fully understand that how much you are in a position to contribute will vary, but the amount of the contribution is not the point. We encourage each of you to make a contribution, no matter how small, so that you can be in full partnership with your fellow church members.
Your Council has done research regarding a good fit for CrossRoad’s future. There has been some talk about being independent vs. joining other Methodist and Wesleyan denominations (see some of the slides for that here). We’re grateful for our Methodist roots and appreciate the benefits of being connected in ministry to a larger, global denomination. We shared this recommendation over a year ago and the Council still unanimously believes that joining the GMC is in CrossRoad’s best interest to remain true to who we are as a church. Making this move would not lead to changing our core values, mission, vision, or theology. Rather it’s the right next step to remain who we are, to keep our church’s theology consistent with what it has been since the beginning.
We had a meeting on Thursday evening, August 3rd to get into more details about the GMC and answer your questions. You may download a copy of The Transitional Book of Doctrines and Discipline for The Global Methodist Church here if you wish. And as always, the questions@crossroad.church email is available to you to communicate directly with your Church Council. (This was formerly “questions@crcumc.org”, and that email address will still reach the council.)
We will vote on whether or not to join the Global Methodist Church on August 13th so we can move from one denomination into another on the disaffiliation date of September 1. We don’t want to have a time in between where we’re independent, as that introduces a variety of complexities. The vote will be to join the GMC or remain independent and will require a simple majority. As detailed above, there will be options for absentee voting.
More information regarding the next steps will be communicated soon. Thank you for your continued prayers for our church in this season. With gratitude for our church family and hope for the future,
The Church Council