Asbury’s members voted today to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church.

A brief post on what’s next.

Results of Today’s Church Conference

The standards for today’s church conference were set by the Oklahoma Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. Only in-person voting was permitted. Ballots were distributed prior to the 2 PM conference start and then collected around 2:30 PM.

1,637 votes cast in-person this afternoon:

• 6 ABSTAIN

• 26 NO

• 1,605 YES

The motion to disaffiliate passed with 98.05% of the vote.

This Was Asbury’s 2nd “Vote”

Starting on March 6 and concluding on March 12, Asbury held an electronic vote of its members to ratify actions its board had taken to unilaterally disaffiliate. For reasons that I don’t need to go into here, that vote was not considered binding by the Oklahoma UMC. But, for purposes of comparison, the results of that vote are instructive. It was kinda a straw poll, it now seems.

1,636 electronic ballots submitted over the course of that week in March.

• 48 NO

• 1,588 YES

The March electronic vote had 97.07% voting YES, March 6-12.

What Happens Next?

Today’s vote will need to be ratified by a special session of the Oklahoma Annual Conference on Friday, October 21. Two weeks before that meeting, Asbury will wire agreed-upon exit fees to an escrow account; if the special session approves the disaffiliation, 10 days after that meeting, Asbury will become an independent church.

The specifics of what happens after that I don’t know. We will take our time and prayerfully discern where we’re supposed to end up.

But this I do know:

Natalie Maines was right:

Buckle Up, Buttercup: It’s Time to Run

Our church governance board has led us to this point because they believe that disaffiliation will enable Asbury to do even more effective ministry in the future.

I personally have no intention of doing anything but pushing hard into that future.

As the meeting closed today, I made a point of putting on my neon orange running shoes and telling the folks who’d waited around for the results that it was time to run.

Allow me to further mix my metaphors:

We’re going to drop the hammer.

We’re going to push the pedal hard.

We’re going all in.

In short:

Buckle up, Buttercup: Let’s Get Ready to Run.

P.S. Alright Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool. Could have also gone with that one….