Singer’s Gap Independent Church, 16290 Hill Valley Road, Mount Union wishes to invite
everyone to join us at 9:30 a.m. Sunday June 6th to our Transformation Celebration immediately
followed by a fellowship meal. We wish to give thanks and praise in our worship to God for the
many, many miracles that He led us through in our transformation process from United
Methodist to become an Independent Church.
Singer’s Gaps journey of disaffiliation from the United Methodist Conference began in 2018.
Our church attendance was rapidly declining. In September 2018 a discussion took place at an
Administrative Board meeting as to the stability of our church congregation. At the beginning of
July the average attendance was in the 60’s and by September had dwindled to an average
attendance in the 30’s.
The United Methodist Conference was wavering on decisions that are not in line with God’s
Holy Word. It became common knowledge that the United Methodist Conference was facing
upheaval. At this time we decided to investigate disaffiliation from the Conference and become
an Independent Church based on the Word of God.
What you need to understand is that The United Methodist Conference has a tight grip on your
assets under a clause identified as “in trust”. In the past you could never get released with what
the congregation has worked hard to attain.
As we embarked on our journey God put it in our hearts to “stand firm” on the Word of God.
This required us to walk by faith! Matthew 17:20 “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed,
you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be
impossible for you.” With God all things are possible.
In November 2018 a letter with a voting ballot was sent out to church members and attendees to
see if they were in favor of beginning a fact finding investigation on disaffiliation from the
United Methodist Conference. December 2018 the ballots were opened and tallied at an
Administrative Board Meeting. The results were 34 in favor and 3 no votes. So at that point it
was very evident that the majority of the congregation desired to stand firm on the Word of God
and to move forward with fact finding on how to be removed from the United Methodist
Conference.
However, as we progressed with the investigation our congregation continued to dwindle. By this
time the Conference had linked our 3 church charge with another local 3 church charge. So we
were given a Pastor that could only preach every other Sunday. On the off Sunday we had a lay
speaker. By now our average attendance was around 8 in worship and 12 in Sunday School.
As you can imagine, not all of the people understood what was going on. Rumors were being
spread. The more God led us into this process the more Satan reared his ugly head causing more
division. During the process of our investigation we continually and faithfully prayed for God’s
guidance and relied on God and the Bible before any actions were taken.
We ended up with 12 people that struggled to stand firm and be obedient to God’s leading.
The first indication that God was leading us was revealed through a Bible Study written by Dr.
David Jeremiah on Elijah. It taught us that God only gives us a step at a time. When He gives
you a step you walk out in faith and take that step. As you are obedient He leads you to the next
step.
Two people had prayed earnestly for God to give someone clear direction as to how to proceed
and this is how God answered. The first scripture that God gave was Romans 8:28-39 entitled
“More than Conquerors” Verse 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew
he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that he might be the firstborn
among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also
justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What then shall we say in response to this? If
God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for
us all - how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring
any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that
condemns? Christ Jesus, who died - more than that, who was raised to life - is at the right hand of
God and is also interceding for us, 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is
written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered,
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am
convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the
future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able
to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The second scripture given to yet another person is as follows: Exodus 14:13-14 Moses answered
the people, “Do not be afraid, stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you
today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you; you
need only to be still.” It was noted that God said “Let my people go”.
As we continued to be attacked for the stance we were taking and we watched as Satan was
roaring all around us, yet another scripture was given “Be still and know that I am God”.
The devotion from the Upper Room for that day started out by saying “A bee entered the
passenger side window of my car and headed straight for the clear windshield, searching for
escape. For several minutes it bumped against the glass. When the bee approached my side of
the car, I opened my door and it flew on to freedom. As I thought of the bee’s actions, I
wondered how many invisible barriers in my life keep me from experiencing the full freedom
and blessings that God wants me to enjoy.
Over the many months we walked on this journey, God never left us. He continued to lead us
and encourage us through the Scriptures. Next God laid another Bible Study entitled“Signs”
written by Dr. David Jermiah on the heart of someone to share with us. This study touched on
how the world around us is clamoring for acceptance no matter what God’s Word says.
We were also led to examine the books of Nehemiah and Job. We could go on and on but you
see we have never walked on our own. God has led us step by step! Not in our time but in His
time!
During 2019 we retained an attorney who set us up as Singer’s Gap Independent Church,
becoming incorporated in October 2019. The attorney informed us that the United Methodist
Conference had all of our assets “in trust”and that the process of disaffiliation was very difficult.
So if you are a part of a United Methodist Church and you think it is your land, building,
finances and contents, think again. They own everything even though your congregation has
struggled to pay its debts. In our case we have a fairly new building that we worked very
deligently through tithing and fundraisers to pay the debt of $200,000.00 in 7 years.
The Conference finally took a vote to decide whether they would leave the ruling in the Book of
Discipline or change. By a very slim margin, they voted to keep the ruling as stated. But by the
grace of God they also voted to allow churches that were grieved by this decision to disaffiliate.
God just opened another door for our next step!
Our next God moment was when a lady asked one of our congregation “how our church was
doing”. When he shared the turmoil and struggle our church was experiencing she shared that
their church was struggling with the same thing and had just requested disaffiliation. Once again
we felt the nudge of God to continue this journey by writing a letter to the Conference requesting
disaffiliation also. At this point we no longer had an attorney due to finances. After speaking
with the other church we decided we should proceed on our own. We wrote a letter to the
District Superintendent requesting disaffiliation.
Our first meeting with our District Superintendent and the assistant to the Bishop was in
December 2019. At that time we were given instructions on how to accomplish disaffiliation.
We were given a list entitled “due diligence” that we needed to complete and an agreement we
would be required to sign between the Conference and our Church. During this meeting we were
told that we would owe 2 years of apportionments totaling $15,660.30, unfunded pension
obligations $58,560.94 and any insurance due. Don’t forget we also had approximately
$35,000.00 in attorney fees.
Another meeting was held with the Conference representatives in January 2020. As we began the
process of completing the list and the disaffiliation agreement requirements, COVID 19 hit. We
continued to move forward during the pandemic.
We were required to attain an appraisal at our cost. The appraisal came back at $180,000.00.
This was sent to the Conference Trustees. We received a letter from them stating we would have
to pay $180,000.00 for our church building. We sent a counter offer in March of 2020 stating
that we had already paid $200,000.00 for this building through our tithes and fundraisers. They
were requiring us to pay for a building we had already worked hard to pay the debt off. Long
story short, they stalled us for 7 months. The clock was ticking on being able to accomplish the
disaffiliation in the allotted time frame we were given. God kept encouraging us through multiple
avenues to keep moving forward. We were not going to let this stop us.We kept moving under
God’s guidance to complete all of our required tasks.
The Conference required us to hold a charge conference to vote on the disaffiliation. We needed
a 2⁄3 vote in favor in order to proceed. The vote was held in June 2020. Due to the pandemic the
vote was held in our church parking lot. Everyone was required to remain in their vehicles. The
Conference representatives handed out ballots and then collected them to tally the results. In
order to vote you had to be a member of the church and present for the vote. A total of 47
members voted, 37 yes and 10 no. We received over the 2⁄3 yes votes needed. Again we saw
God’s hand at work.
All historical items had to be given to the representatives of the Conference, as well as all United
Methodist signage had to be removed. Everything on our end was now complete but we were
still waiting on an answer to the amount we had to pay for the building. Finally at the final
possible date they told us we would definitely have to pay the $180,000.00 they wouldn’t accept
anything less.
At this point we now owe approximately $264,000.00 in order for the Conference to release our
building and assets. We had already approached our local banks to see if we would be able to get
a loan. We were told that we would need a $50,000.00 down payment. Just another confirmation
that we were to keep moving forward was when people from our group of 12 stepped forward
pledging enough money to cover the $50,000.00 down payment. Of course anyone that has
applied for loans knows that you also need 3 years of good financial records showing your ability
to pay back the debt. Remember we went from 60 people in the middle of 2018 to 12 people in
2020. On paper the banks told us there was no way we could pay back our debt. They rejected
our request for a loan. They of course did not know that we were backed by our Lord and Savior
who was guiding every step. This was just one more obstacle for our group but not for God.
Over the course of our journey, a private individual had been keeping in touch with the progress
of the disaffiliation. We told this individual that we had hit a roadblock because no bank was
willing to loan us the money that we needed. We had the down payment but couldn’t get the
remaining balance. After confirming that we really were positive that God was leading us to
continue this journey to completion, he offered to loan us $200,000.00. Yet another miracle!
Our next step was to go back to our Attorney in order to complete a loan agreement and
complete the transfer of the deeds. These last steps were being completed at the llth hour. On
December 3, 2020 the land, building, and all assets officially became the property of Singer’s
Gap Independent Church.
Yes we still have a long road ahead of us financially. In 5 months we have held many
fundraisers. God has blessed our endeavors and we have already cut 1 year off our loan. We also
want to thank the many, many people that have donated money toward this endeavor. At this
point we do not have enough money to have a full time Pastor. Again that will come in God’s
time not ours. We have been blessed by many special Holy Spirit filled guest speakers who are
preaching God’s Word!.
Our theme song in the beginning of this process was “How Great Is Our God”. How great is our
God, sing with me, how great is our God, and all will see, how great, how great is our God!
Name above all names, worthy of our praise, and my heart will sing, how great is our God! It is
not about us or any one individual. It is all about God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy
Spirit!
We need to remember that our obedience to God and our faith to “Stand Firm” is what God
requires of us. God didn’t promise it would be easy. We just need to trust in His perfect timing!
If God would have told us in the Fall of 2018 that this process would not be over until December
of 2020 would we have been diligent in completing His Will? One step at a time! That was all
He required!