Judge George W. Smith of the 6th Judicial Circuit, Civil Law Court in Liberia, issued a decision last month stating that the United Methodist Church (UMC) has rightful control over several church properties, not the Global Methodist Church (GMC).
“The GMC and Rev. Jerry P. Kulah hold no legal or equitable right, title or interest in UMC Liberia Annual Conference properties, including worship centers, schools, hospitals and other facilities,” Smith ruled.
Smith also stated that “forfeited all beneficial ownership and interest” when the GMC leadership disaffiliated from the UMC, describing their claims to the properties as “legally unfounded.”
“The UMC Liberia Annual Conference, the trustee, holds its properties in trust for the use and benefit of its members, present and future,” Smith added, aligning with Liberia’s Civil Procedure Law.
UMC Bishop Samuel J. Quire Jr. of the Liberia Episcopal Area expressed optimism about the ruling, stating it “has helped to ease tensions and prevent further confrontations with those contesting the church’s properties,” according to UM News.
Last year at the UMC General Conference, delegates voted to remove from the UMC Book of Discipline bans on same-sex marriage ceremonies, the ordination of noncelibate homosexuals, and funding for LGBT advocacy groups. The UMC also omitted a statement declaring homosexuality “incompatible with Christian teaching” during those revisions.
These changes largely resulted from the disaffiliation of around 7,500 predominantly conservative churches in recent years, amid many progressive leaders' refusal to enforce existing discipline on LGBT issues.
In June 2024, shortly after the changes, Bishop Quire announced that his conference would keep the traditional rules regarding marriage and ordination.
However, many believed that the West African regional body should leave the UMC due to the General Conference vote, and argued that church properties should be transferred to the GMC of Liberia.
Rev. Jerry Kulah, leader of the GMC of Liberia, claimed that Quire had previously agreed that the regional body would leave the UMC if the denomination changed its stance on sexuality and LGBT issues.
“Bishop and all of us agreed that the day the UMC worldwide passes this law, we will leave from there (UMC),” Kulah said in recent remarks, according to the Monrovia-based Women Voices Newspaper in March.
“Bishop is on video, where he went from church to church, district to district, to inform the districts that when this happens, the UMC Liberia will leave. … We have chosen not to follow him.”
