I must begin by sharing that my entire life has been influenced spiritually by the Methodist movement. My grandfather, a Methodist pastor before becoming a United Methodist pastor, baptized me into the Methodist Movement while an infant as I was born in 1968, the year the United Methodist Church was birthed. I cherish the church where I was raised, the church where I accepted Jesus into my heart, the church where I was married, and the church that ultimately recognized my call into full time ministry. Easley Mill Methodist Church, later renamed St. Andrew United Methodist Church, will always have a special place in my heart. And the people who helped teach me God’s Word and showed me how to live it out, the men and the women who volunteered to serve in Sunday School, in children’s choirs, in student ministry, as well as many other ministries within the church, I will never forget. They were the hands and feet of Jesus.

So, my Methodist roots run deep. I feel blessed to be in my 26 th year of ministry as a pastor and thankful to be in my 16 th year of ministry as a pastor of Covenant Methodist Church. We are a church that averages 1,500 people in worship including our LiveStream audience, with three worship services on Sunday mornings, two Sunday morning hours for our Covenant groups, traditionally called Sunday School, and ministries happening every day of the week.

Several years ago, we were on the frontlines of keeping up with the happenings within the United Methodist Church. Our laity formed our Way Forward Committee and for six years they prayed, studied, and looked at several options that they thought might be where Covenant landed as a church. Options studied were to stay United Methodist, become an independent church, join an association of churches, become part of the Wesleyan denomination, join the Free Methodist denomination or join the Global Methodist Church. We decided by unanimous votes of our church council and Way Forward committee members to recommend to our church members that Covenant become a part of the Global Methodist Church. And, when the members of Covenant were able to vote, almost 99% decided to join the Global Methodist Church. We are so excited for this new movement of Methodism.

So, why does a large church join the Global Methodist Church? I think there are several reasons. I’ll share just three in this article.

Familiarity - For us, familiarity was our primary focus. Let’s be honest, most of us considering the GMC are currently in the UMC. And this type of church is one with which we are very familiar. It is who we are at our core. We have been a part of that organizational structure our entire existence. Obviously along the way we saw the need to reform some of that organizational structure, but being a connectional church is who Covenant has always been. Having structure and order and maintaining accountability and partnership is important for us.

Biblical - The Global Methodist Church is also a place where the Authority of God’s Word is recognized and lived out unapologetically. There is no compromising that Jesus is THE Way, THE Truth and THE Life. We recognize that people are lost without Jesus and found and forever changed when they are born again. The GMC is the perfect landing spot for traditional Methodists: those who believe in a Triune God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit), those who believe that Jesus is Fully Human and Fully God, and those that know and believe that Christianity stands alone in showing people the Way to the Father. The GMC is where God’s grace is offered to all people and where all people have a choice whether to accept that grace or reject that grace. The GMC recognizes the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman and believes that life is a precious gift from God.

Holy Spirit’s leading - And, for Covenant being a part of a new movement of the Holy Spirit within Methodism was also a key factor. Something incredibly special is happening all around us. Churches and pastors are joining the Global Methodist Church because of the Holy Spirit’s leading. When we had our first gathering of the Global Methodist Church in South Carolina earlier this year, I must say, it was one of the few times in my entire ministry where I went to a “Methodist” gathering where there was simply one agenda….lifting high the name of Jesus. Admittedly, in the future I know we will have to guard against letting other agendas take center stage, but the GMC is where Jesus holds his rightful position. Being able to be a part of a movement of the Holy Spirit where truly making disciples of Jesus is the sole mission is so important. Over the hundreds of years in Christianity there have been those times when the Holy Spirit births another movement to share with the lost the message of how much Jesus Christ loves them. We believe this is one of those times!

I encourage you, whether church member or pastor to pray, discern, listen to His leading, and prayerfully become a part of the Global Methodist Church.