Mt. Bethel UMC, North Georgia Conference Lawsuit Over Popular Pastor To Be Settled

EAST COBB, GA — Lawyers for Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church and the Methodist church's regional body — North Georgia Conference — agreed to enter settlement negotiations, multiple news outlets reported.

The North Georgia Conference sued Mt. Bethel in September after months of conflict over reassigning a popular senior pastor, asking to seize control over the East Cobb church's assets when mediation attempts failed.

In April 2021, the popular senior pastor Rev. Jody Ray was reassigned by Bishop Sue Haupert-Johnson to a post related to racial reconciliation. Ray refused the new assignment and claimed it was not made following the proper protocols, and the church announced its intent to disaffiliate.

Mt. Bethel filed a lawsuit counterclaim in October, asking the court to let Mt. Bethel move forward with a vote to disaffiliate from the United Methodist Church.

Tuesday's hearing in regard to the lawsuits saw a packed courtroom, the Marietta Daily Journal reported, and everyone expected a back-and-forth between the two entities' lawyers.

But instead, they said they were dropping motions and delaying depositions, and asked Judge Mary Staley Clark to mediate closed-door negotiations, East Cobb News reported.

"I think all the parties agree that the best chance to resolve this dispute is with your persuasion, rather than your orders," said Robert Ingram, an attorney representing Mt. Bethel.

Clark said she would mediate, and asked to meet with attorneys and parties for both sides separately, according to ECN.

Dropped motions included requests that Haupert-Johnson, Superintendent Jessica Terrell and its board of trustees be joined together as defendants, as well as Mt. Bethel's motion for default judgment, according to a joint consent order.

Haupert-Johnson, Terrell and the trustees have 30 days to respond, and the legal discovery process can continue through Oct. 15, according to ECN.

The order also says no vote to close Mt. Bethel can be taken at this year's annual meeting of all the North Georgia Conference churches in June — which the Conference has threatened in the past — and clergy or lay delegates of Mt. Bethel can't bring up the issue either, the MDJ reported.

"I will listen carefully to what each side has to say, and then give guidance to the other side, not revealing what one side says, because that's not the function," Clark said, according to the MDJ. "But more than anything, to kind of listen to both sides and ... say, 'have you considered, would you consider, what do you think about, here's an idea,' and it sort of allows us all to kind of craft things."

Related:

• Church Member Subpoenaed In Mt. Bethel UMC Lawsuit
• 'Let The Church Vote': Mt. Bethel UMC Files Lawsuit Counterclaim
• Mt. Bethel Sued By Methodist Conference After Mediation Fails
• Mt. Bethel Enters Mediation With Conference To Settle Dispute
• Embattled East Cobb Church Warned Of Coming 'Spiritual Battle'
• Mt. Bethel UMC Assets To Be Seized 'Immediately' By Conference
• Cobb Church Breaks With Methodists Over Pastor's Reassignment