The Virginia Annual Conference held four Special Called sessions from 2022 to 2023 for churches who followed the disaffiliation process outlined in Paragraph 2553 from the Book of Discipline to be considered for ratification by the Annual Conference body. As a result, 227 local churches disaffiliated from the conference during this time.
You can find the results from each individual conference at the links below:
With the conclusion of the October 7, 2023 Special Called Annual Conference, this marked the last opportunity for churches in the Virginia Conference to use the disaffiliation process outlined in Paragraph 2553 before the legislation sunsets at the end of 2023.
Annual Conference members can now review data giving further detail on the standing of all local churches in the Virginia Annual Conference following the disaffiliation process based on the information from the conference Unity Database.
- The linked PDF document shows the status of each local church by district.
- Below are total exit metrics for the 227 local churches.
- The map below shows all churches remaining UMC, all the disaffiliated local churches, and churches which are now Bridge Churches.
Disaffiliation Metrics for the 227 Churches Approved for Disaffiliation Under Paragraph 2553
This summary data is included to show the total impact of disaffiliation in the Virginia Conference from four Special Called Annual Conferences and their totals from October 2022, February 2023, May 2023, and October 2023.
The value of all local church assets of all 227 churches, not including real estate, is $24,266,076. This value is 7.65% of all local church non-real estate assets in the Annual Conference of $317,271,099.
The value of the 227 churches’ real estate is $182,291,683.** This is 8.55% of the value of annual conference local church real estate of $2,133,208,670.
The amount paid by the 227 churches for all conference apportionments over a five-year period was $16,577,824. This represents 10.92% of conference apportioned receipts over that same period of $151,809,305.
The above information is derived from local church statistical data as submitted by local churches and reported to the General Council on Finance and Administration. *Based on total number of members but does not reflect members who have chosen to remain United Methodist. Corrected totals will be available in the future.
**Property values derived from church self-reporting as recorded on annual statistical tables.
Map Key:
Blue icon: Bridge Church
Green icon: Church Continuing as UMC
Red icon: Disaffiliated Local Church
Click any colored (blue, green, red) icon to get more information. If you click anywhere on the map besides an icon, a pop-up window will allow you to toggle between the full list of Bridge Churches, Continuing UMC churches, and disaffiliated churches.
