南卡法官拟驳回联合卫理公会年议会诉讼 约70间欲脱离宗派的教会可望保有产业
联合卫理公会南卡罗来纳年议会本周发布更新称，一名州法官预计将驳回年议会针对约70间地方教会提起的诉讼——这些教会希望脱离联合卫理公会并带走各自的教会产业。据年议会通报，巡回法院法官布莱恩·吉本斯已表示打算下令驳回案件；年议会周一得知这一意向，正式裁决书尚未签发，脱离一方教会的律师已被要求起草裁决书草案。
年议会表示正咨询法律顾问，计划上诉，案件可能一路打到南卡罗来纳州最高法院，并称上诉本就在预料之中。年议会主教伦纳德·费尔利在通报中说：「人们渴慕福音。」他表示年议会将继续寻求公义、走完适当的法律途径，同时专注于使命。
这场诉讼是联合卫理公会近年来分裂浪潮的一环。2023年，南卡年议会曾批准113间教会依《教会法规》第2553段脱离宗派，该临时条款已于2023年底到期；全美已有7,500多间以保守派为主的教会因宗派内部围绕相关议题的争论离开。2024年，部分教会改走第2549段途径脱离，年议会称这些教会属欺诈性脱离，违反宗派「信托条款」——按该条款，教会产业由宗派信托持有而非归地方教会所有；联合卫理公会最高司法机构司法委员会2024年10月裁定，因神学分歧欲脱离的教会不能援引第2549段。此后双方对簿公堂，多数案件被合并为一案审理。
（综合联合卫理公会南卡罗来纳年议会官方通报及《基督邮报》10月14日报道）
South Carolina Judge Expected to Dismiss UMC Conference Suits Against Some 70 Churches Seeking to Leave
A South Carolina judge is expected to dismiss lawsuits brought by the United Methodist Church's South Carolina Conference against about 70 congregations seeking to leave the denomination with their properties, the conference said in an update this week. The conference said it learned on Monday that Circuit Court Judge Brian M. Gibbons intends to issue an order dismissing the cases; the final orders have not yet been written or entered, and attorneys for the separating churches have been asked to prepare proposed orders for the judge's consideration.
The conference said it is consulting legal counsel and plans to appeal, possibly as far as the South Carolina Supreme Court, noting that an appeal was likely regardless of the trial court's decision. "People are hungry for the Gospel," Bishop Leonard Fairley said in the update, adding that the conference will continue to pursue the legal avenues available while remaining focused on its mission.
The litigation is part of a broader schism in the United Methodist Church. In 2023 the South Carolina Annual Conference approved the disaffiliation of 113 congregations under Paragraph 2553 of the Book of Discipline, a temporary provision that expired at the end of 2023; more than 7,500 mostly conservative congregations have left the denomination nationwide amid debate over LGBT issues. In 2024 some churches exited through Paragraph 2549, which the conference argued was a fraudulent departure violating the denomination's trust clause, under which church property is held in trust for the denomination. The Judicial Council, the denomination's top court, ruled in October 2024 that churches seeking to leave over theological differences could not use Paragraph 2549, and most of the resulting cases were consolidated into a single lawsuit.
(Compiled from the UMC South Carolina Conference's official update and the Christian Post, October 14)
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：位于南卡罗来纳州哥伦比亚市的卫斯理联合卫理公会教堂，年议会总部所在地。图片来源：Wikimedia Commons，Eastward Gypsy 摄，CC BY-SA 4.0 授权
GSM Global · 本篇英文版 English edition of this story
