Former UMC Pastor Kicked out of NC UMC Organization After Contributing Thousands

Brotherhood/Sisterhood bars disaffiliated members from accessing contributed funds

In May, the United Methodist Church (UMC) held its General Conference in Charlotte, N.C. At the assembly, delegates voted (692-51) to remove a long-standing measure barring clergy who identify as LGBTQ+ from being ordained in the denomination.

Pastor Talbot Davis / Video screenshot @Good Shepherd Church

While this decision, and the exodus of more than 7,000 churches from the UMC, have been making national headlines, the ripple effects are hitting all the way down at the local church level.

One example is out of Western North Carolina.

In 1989, Talbot Davis became an ordained minister in the UMC. Shortly after, in 1990, at the UMC’s Western North Carolina Conference (WNCC) he learned about an organization called The Brotherhood/Sisterhood (BH/SH). He decided to join.

The BH/SH provides financial support for families of deceased WNCC clergy members. When a member dies, participating clergy pay a $15 assessment fee. The funds are then given to the member’s family to help with funeral expenses, medical bills, and other costs.

“I was glad to be part of that ministry, and knew that every time I paid those assessments people from the Brotherhood/Sisterhood were going to a surviving spouse, usually a widow, with a check for $10,000,” Davis said.

Members pay up to $210 per year, and Davis estimates that over the last 34 years he has paid in close to $7,000—with the idea that his family would one day have access to those funds.

But all that changed this year.

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On May 28, Davis received an email from BH/SH Executive Director Roland Barnhardt informing him he was no longer eligible to belong to the BH/SH, and his family would not receive funds from the organization.

The reason: his church was no longer part of the UMC.

In November 2023, Davis and his church, Good Shepherd Church, chose to disaffiliate from the UMC noting they could see the “writing on the wall” for the vote that would eventually happen at the 2024 General Conference.

They joined thousands of other churches leaving the UMC over its definition of marriage and stance on sexuality, many opting to join a new conservative offshoot called the Global Methodist Church (GMC). Davis and his church leaders decided to become an independent church instead.

Despite Davis’ church—and 28 other BH/SH members—disaffiliating from the UMC, the organization assured them via email in November 2023 they would still be eligible for the funds and could continue their membership.

Just six months later, the BH/SH reversed its decision. That’s when Davis received the May email telling him he was no longer eligible.

That email states that BH/SH eligibility was contingent on “the official recognition of the GMC by The Discipline of the UMC. With much disappointment, we have learned that the GMC has chosen not to be in full communion with the UMC.”

Davis expressed confusion over this decision, noting that his church didn’t join the GMC, and the GMC has not made an official decision yet on its affiliation.

“The GMC is in formation, they don’t have their meeting until later this year. They’re saying the GMC has made a decision they actually haven’t made,” he said.

He asked Barnhardt if the BH/SH might consider grandfathering in disaffiliated members who have been paying in over the years. Especially because he joined the BH/SH “when the UMC had one definition of marriage; its subsequent redefinition that leads to our departure has no impact on the currency we put to good use with every expectation of a good outcome.”

In a June 4 email, Barnhardt told Davis the issue would be addressed by its Executive Committee at the WNCC’s annual meeting.

But ultimately, the decision remained the same. On June 25, Davis received an email from Barnhardt stating:

“You will receive a letter to the effect that those who surrendered their credentials and are no longer affiliated with the WNCC of the UMC have also chosen to leave the BH/SH according to our Constitution and By-Laws’ requirements for membership. We will refund the amount of assessments that were paid after the effective date of disaffiliation to any and all who have left the BH/SH.”

Davis says he asked Barnhardt if the outcome would have been the same if his church had gone to a more liberal denomination like the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) or the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.

Barnhardt replied: “I would ask for verification before saying this, but my first thought is that that probably would not have been a problem.”

Davis says this is “hypocrisy on full display.”

When contacted by MinistryWatch, Barnhardt replied that “clergy who surrendered their credentials as United Methodists of the WNCC are no longer able to belong to this organization.”

He declined to provide Form 990s.

In 2023, the BH/SH issued 21 clergy death notices.

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