Which denomination....

circuitrider said:

Sorry, didn't mean to try to pull you into an argument. If you'd like to discuss NT polity we can do that. But I don't want to pull you into it. If not, we will just have to disagree. What I see in the New Testament either fits Episcopal or Presbyterian models. I don't see congregationalism at all.

And I didn't when I was a Baptist either just to be clear. That is just one of the reasons I'm no longer a Baptist.

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circuitrider said:

Sounds good to me CelticRebel.

By the way, does your name imply an interest in Celtic spirituality?

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circuitrider said:

As an aside, I prefer an equal apportionment among the local churches. I think it is more fair than each local church voting what it wants to pay. In most Baptist denomination a church of equal size that gives $200 gets the same votes as a church that gives $2,000 or $2,000,000. That hardly seems fair to me.

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circuitrider said:

No, we do not allow infant dedications. I'm not aware that it was ever officially allowed. But now it is specifically forbidden.

Yes, each local church is part of an annual conference. The members of the annual conference (clergy and laity) vote on an annual budget which is apportioned by a formula that evenly divides the support of the conference budget between all the local churches.

The property is held in trust by the local trustees for the UMC but becomes the property of the Annual Conference should the church ever cease to exist or cease to be United Methodist.

The purpose of the "trust clause" for the property is actually more of a protection for the local church. It prevents a group of non-methodists from joining the church and then trying to run off with the property. (This has happened to some Baptist churches.)

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