FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas' largest Methodist congregation, Central United Methodist in Fayetteville, is planning to split into three different groups.
"The root of it is we have different viewpoints on biblical interpretations and so the churches are going to go be a part of what they believe will better align them with their understanding of the Bible," said Executive Director Brian Swain. "It's like going to Baskin Robbins. All 31 flavors are wonderful, but some people like vanilla and some people like rocky road."
This week, the Central Methodist Church signed off on a separation agreement that would keep its name while also allowing Genesis Church on Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd to become its own independent, nondenominational church and Christ Church, another nondenominational church.
The new church will launch in June, Swain said. It will initially be launching out of the Fayetteville Town Center where services will be till sometime in the fall.
Over the next two years, Central United Methodist Church will give Christ Church a $500,000 contribution.
Swain says the split is for the best and will cut down on internal conflict, which is "not healthy for the kingdom and it’s not healthy for those churches."
He says aligning churchgoers with a place they align more with is beneficial to everyone involved. "For people to be in line with those who have more comparable viewpoints to them hopefully it will allow them to carry out their understanding of the kingdom building in a better way," Swain said.
Bishop Laura Merrill with the Arkansas Conference of the United Methodist Church shared the same sentiment, saying, "I am grateful that church members and leaders have been willing to work together to pursue futures for various faith communities in Fayetteville. We are excited for refreshed leadership and intentional openness to the revival at Central United Methodist Church in Fayetteville."
"Our hope is that God will bless this separation in a way that each church that is birthed from it will thrive," Swain.
All of this comes as the Methodist Church as a whole is facing several splits, including Heritage Methodist in Van Buren, which disaffiliated at the end of 2022.
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