On March 9, 2022, the members of Park Avenue UMC made a historic, faith-filled decision.  After a prayerful and lengthy process of discernment, members voted at a Church Conference to amicably disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church pursuant to ¶ 2553 of the UMC Book of Discipline.  We did so, acting in faith to stand on the truth of God’s Word, and maintain the Wesleyan Orthodox Methodist heritage that this church was built on.  The primary factor was the theological differences that continue to cause division and ineffectiveness in the UMC denomination.

We are grateful to the United Methodist Church, and especially to the South Georgia Annual Conference for working with us in this amicable disaffiliation.  Once approved by the Annual Conference in June 2022, and the fulfillment of the terms of disaffiliation, Park Avenue will no longer be a United Methodist Church.  We are exploring uniting with the new Traditional Methodist Denomination known as the Global Methodist Church that will launch on May 1, 2022.

While this was not an easy decision, it will allow the Park Avenue family to move past the denominational struggle and focus our attention on helping people move closer to Christ, without the distractions that have plagued the UMC for the last several years.  We will continue to reach out with Christ’s love to Valdosta, Lowndes County, and to the ends of the earth through the witness of Wesleyan/Methodist theology which has so wonderfully been used by the Lord around the world.

We are grateful for every voice shared as we considered this decision, and believe that God will help us work together to continue to be the church He called us to be.  We enter this new era in the life of Park Avenue with much hope, excitement and great anticipation of where God will lead us as we continue to seek His guidance.