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What happened to your church?
In short, University Methodist Church disbanded in June 2001.
Yet the Bible says there is one true Church -- that of Jesus Christ -- which will endure until His Second Coming. Those who worked to disband our local congregation are still our brothers and sisters, and we love them and expect to see them in heaven. Church politics should be no barrier to our fellowship.
There are many of us who quietly and outspokenly believe a mistake was made in attempting an experimental "church restart" with University Methodist Church in Denton, Texas. The main message of this Web site can be summarized in a single sentence: Man cannot rebuild what God has already built.
"... You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it." --Jesus, Matthew 16:18.
"For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ." --Paul, I Corinthians 3:11
Like the Jesus Movement in the 1970s and the Gospel Music trend in the first half of the last Century, today there is an emerging contemporary trend in evangelical Christianity which fills the seats and draws in the masses -- as many churches which provide contemporary soft-rock praise songs, dispense with formality, simplfy teachings, encourage casual dress and offer a variety of programs designed to appeal to the secular world, have grown into "megachurches" consisting of thousands of members. As a reaction to this trend, dwindling denominations, such as the Evangelical Methodist Church, have attempted to mirror those practices in an attempt to breathe new life into their congregations.
In face of changing times, and during a rapid increase in sexual immorality and blasphemy in the secular realm, traditional congregations were often deemed "unhealthy." As an attempt to revitalize these kinds of churches (many of which were indeed stale and resistant to new methods of outreach) several evangelical groups began to reccomend "church restart" programs to turn any stagnant, small congregation into a "reverse mission" managed by a sponsoring congregation or cooperative program.
This is what was tried with the Evangelical Methodist Church in Denton. It failed.
In many of these cases, the Biblical system of local deacons (servants and trustees assigned to taking care of the basic needs of the church) and elders (seasoned disciples who look after the church's spiritual health as faithful stewards) was done away with and replaced with a single minister to run the show. A stricter clergy-laity system evolved under the guise of new music and multimedia presentations, with its archbishops consisting of the superstars of Christian entertainment and the biggest names in book publishing.
If you're looking for ways to reignite small, seemingly stagnant congregations, we encourage you to read through this site -- including the final conference report -- and prayerfully consider if a church re-start is the way to go in rekindling a congregation which lost its spark for outreach and evangelism.
If you're a former member or friend of University Methodist Church or any of its predecessors, we apologize for the political mess this "re-start" has caused, and we would like to visit with you sometime, pray together and catch up.
Sincerely,
What's left of University EMC.
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