From an email sent to Kansas Area clergy in the United Methodist Church. How do you respond?
CONFERENCE STILL COMMITTED TO NORTHWEST SEDGWICK COUNTY WICHITA, Kan.—GracePoint United Methodist Church will have its final worship service on Easter Sunday, but the United Methodist Church remains committed to having a presence in northwest Sedgwick County.
“We would have liked to continue the GracePoint United Methodist congregation. Unfortunately, there were not enough remaining members to continue the congregation,” said Kansas United Methodist Bishop Scott Jones. “We are disappointed that things worked out this way.”
The bishop and conference leaders decided that closing GracePoint and regrouping was the best option in consultation with new pastor Rev. Steve Spencer and the 17 remaining church members. Spencer, who was appointed to GracePoint UMC on March 6, will continue as its pastor until the church is formally closed. Remaining church members are being assisted with finding other United Methodist churches in the area to meet their needs.
“The United Methodist Church is still committed to a new and evangelistic presence in northwest Sedgwick County,” Jones said. The land and assets of GracePoint United Methodist Church will remain with the denomination and will be used for the future United Methodist new church in the area. An exact timetable for starting the new congregation has not yet been determined, he said.
GracePoint United Methodist Church was started five years ago by the Kansas West Annual (regional) Conference of the United Methodist Church. On March 1, the pastor and leadership team announced plans to leave the United Methodist Church and form a new community church of the same name. Over the course of the past month, GracePoint UMC has continued to meet weekly for worship at Maize South Middle School while the conference and church leaders assessed the congregation’s future.
Rev. Andrew Conard 
11 replies on “GracePoint UMC Final Worship Service”
Sad.
Truly sad. I agree Mike. I hope they are able to retool, renew, and resurrect!
Yes, it is sad. Prayers for Rev. Spencer as he and his family will have to make a second huge mental transition in as many months
Prayers for that community. May God bless Rev. Spencer and all those who have had to make this very difficult decision, as well as those now left to find a new faith community.
I think it’s quite funny. Just shows you that the people of gracepoint couldn’t have cared less about the denomination. The truth is, the church is the people, not a label. Gracepoint isn’t dead. It’s still going very strong at NW high school. Rock on.
Susanne – In what way is it funny?
Suzsanne – I listened to Rev. Butts sermon online the week after the announcement. If I’m not mistaken it was called “one” and was about unity in the church, even quoting Jesus in John 17 saying that the world will know God by the unity of His followers. Rev. Butts commended the people of Gracepoint for being so united with each other. It seems to me that both you and Rev. Butts have forgotton that you are one of millions of local churches, all of which are no more than a single cell in the Body of Christ. I don’t care if you care about a denomination or not. I do care about whether you care about the people. There’s nothing funny about a church closing. You wouldn’t say that if you were in their position.
Guys Perhaps it was a poor choice of words but you are equivocating her meaning. She wasnt suggesting it was funny “Ha Ha”, rather that it was funny “Ironic”, And Suzsanne, give it a rest, you seem to be all to willing to cast the first stone, not very Christlike in my opinion. Remember Jesus challenged the institution, and it killed him for it, Suzsanne, if you are without sin, go ahead and cast stones, otherwise walk away in silence!
[…] GracePoint UMC Final Worship Service […]
This is truly Sad! This entire situation has been blow out of proportion!! David you are absolutely correct in what you say, however perhaps the same comments need to be re-directed towards the Bishop and the Entire United Methodist Conference as it sure seems like they have lost sight of it as well. As far as Susanne’s comments I agree completely, this isn’t about a church having to close its doors this is about the fact that there are many options in NW Wichita and ones that are reaching the hurt and the lost. GracePoint Community Church happens to be one of those options and it is still thriving with out a denomination “backing it” So why don’t we all just move on with our ministries and pray that God shows favor to all of them as they all have a purpose and a reason to be present.
Rat – I agree that the entire situation has been blown out of proportion. Do you feel that my post was helpful or contributed to that?