Senator proposes compromise to let United Methodist congregations leave while requiring reimbursement for conference investments

Sen. C. Anthony Muse, Maryland state senator representing Prince George’s County, urged the House Economic Matters Committee to report favorably on Senate Bill 586 with an amendment that would let local United Methodist congregations disaffiliate and retain ownership of their property provided they reimburse their conference for documented financial investments.

Muse said the amendment aims to address what he called an inequitable application of a trust clause that, he said, “has been carried out” in practice to require congregations to pay large sums in order to leave the denomination. “This amendment does not say that the Methodist Church is not owed anything,” Muse said. “It says if they are owed anything, it's gotta be paid off.”

The amendment, as Muse described it, would: require a disaffiliating local church to reimburse a conference for the total amount the conference invested in real property used by the congregation; credit any payments the local church previously made toward acquisition, maintenance or renovation against that balance; and require the conference to provide a full and transparent accounting of funds it contributed before determining the final reimbursement amount.

Muse told the committee he has letters in the record from congregations that say conferences demanded sums they could not pay. He cited Nichols Bell United Methodist Church in “Oedington, Maryland,” which, he said, received a bill for $2,500,000 that the congregation could not meet, and Clarks United Methodist Church, which he said was told it had to pay roughly half the building’s value (he cited a $1,500,000 figure in that example). Muse said some local churches “owe nothing” based on his conversations and that many congregations did not receive conference funds for roofs, furnaces or other capital work.

Committee members pressed Muse on specifics. Delegate Fisher asked whether conferences had provided canceled checks or other proof of what they actually invested; Muse replied, “From all of my studies, no. They have not done that at all.” A member asked whether recorded deed language might supersede the bill; Muse said most deeds are old and do not contain a recorded trust clause and that the trust understanding was imposed by church law and then translated into statute in some conferences. Another member asked about short repayment deadlines and negotiation options; Muse said timelines could be worked out and described some cases, which he said are in the court record, in which churches were given very brief windows to pay.

Muse described the amendment as a compromise intended to preserve property for congregations that paid for improvements while requiring reimbursement when conferences can demonstrate investment. He argued the amendment would help small, older congregations — often with 80 or fewer members and older congregants — that he said were being forced to choose between paying large sums or remaining in a denomination they no longer supported.

Muse also referenced a 1972 statutory change tied to the formation of the United Methodist Church and said that roughly 11 of the denomination’s conferences had implemented a property-trust approach. He told the committee he had shared an attorney general’s opinion that, in his view, supports the constitutionality of the proposed approach and said ongoing litigation would not be affected.

No formal vote was recorded during the hearing on the bill. Muse asked the committee to give the amendment a favorable report.

The record includes committee questioning but no committee direction recorded as an official action during the transcript provided. If the committee takes subsequent action, that would be reflected in later minutes or reports.