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Transition Team
July 17, 2023
TRINITY CHURCH OF HEBER SPRINGS
1099 W. PINE ST.
HEBER SPRINGS, AR 72543 501-362-2696
Rev. Tommy Toombs, Sr. – Pastor
Dear Members of Trinity Church,Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Our congregation’s long journey from the decision to disaffiliate from the United Methodist denomination to shaping our future has reached another milestone.
Enclosed you will find the recommendation from our Transition Team which was presented to and approved by our Board of Trustees last week. The Church Council approved this recommendation at our meeting Sunday, July 16. All three groups passed the recommendation unanimously. Now it is time for the congregation to gather and vote on this vital step forward.
Please study the enclosed information and come prepared to vote on Monday, July 31, at 6:00 PM in the Worship Center. We will have a brief period of time prior to the vote for discussion. Please remember only members of Trinity Church will be able to vote.
The members of our Transition Team worked prayerfully and tirelessly to provide this recommendation. I am sure you join me in extending our grateful thanks for their service to this local congregation.
In the love of Christ,
Tommy Toombs
Phase One Recommendation Report
Trinity Church Transition Team Phase One Recommendation Report
After considering several options extensively, we landed on this church name. We want to reflect to the community a new chapter in the life of the church and one that is calling for the church, community, and each individual to be renewed through God’s Word and the power of the Holy Spirit.
After considering a couple of options, we landed on becoming an independent church. We left a denomination for many good reasons, and we don’t see a need to affiliate with one at this time.
Why We Are Leaving the UMC
Reasons for Leaving the Methodist Denomination
- The Methodist Church was not holding to the Biblical teachings on several things, not just homosexuality.
- Methodist leadership had proven themselves unwilling to address these non-biblical teachings by their pastors and universities.
- Methodist leadership and clergy seemed more interested in fighting off the Global Methodist movement relative to preacher pay and appointments than cleaning up their own house.
Why We Chose to Remain Independent
Reasons for Not Joining Another Denomination
- We could not find a denomination that cleared all our objectives. All had something in them that would not be accepted by our congregation.
- The Global Methodist church was the closest, but it is still forming and setting up their policies. It would be painful to want to leave if a policy was changed – ex. increasing apportionments.
- By not having to pay apportionments to a denomination, this money can be used in our community, missions we deem important, or for our church needs.
- We can keep with our current theology of Wesleyan thought along with the disciplines that are given in the Bible without another organization wanting to change them.
- Our church is healthy and thriving without being affiliated to a denomination.
- Our church is composed of members from many denominations and the fellowship and community feeling and worship is conducted as a healthy church without direction from a denomination.
- We have learned from our consultant that we can be confident that we will be able to find highly qualified pastor candidates that align with our current theology without affiliating with a denomination.